The Vision
by A Single Drop of Blood
Summary: Alice gets a disturbing vision about Bella and Edward's death. No matter what they do to avoid it, things keep getting worse and worse. Can the starcrossed lovers avoid their deathly fates, or will Alice's vision come true? FINALLY COMPLETE!
1. Chapter 1

(Bella's Point of View)

I opened my eyes, immediately beaming when warm sunlight hit my face. I sighed, allowing the sunlight to soak through every molecule of my face. Then I sat up, looking toward the rocking chair, smiling in welcoming to Edward.

I had another dream about him last night. Oh well, I guess its not that big a deal. He stars in almost every dream lately.

He comes over every night since we got back from Italy. He leaves once Charlie announces my curfew, only to appear on my bed each night when I go up to 'sleep.' Charlie checks up on me, of course, but Edward can hear him when he even thinks about coming up, so no worries there. He was on my bed when I fell asleep, and he was in my mother's rocking chair when I woke up, smiling my favorite crooked smile.

So, I was totally surprised at what I saw. My smile fell immediately when he wasn't there. Oh no. I ran to the window, glaring furiously at the sun that, moments before, gave me happiness.

"Damn it." Of course Edward wasn't here. It was sunny, so he couldn't be seen outside. His sparking magnificence would, as he said, "cause a traffic accident." It seemed like my world was ending as I realized that I wouldn't see him all day. "Damn it. Damn it, damn it, damn it."

I slowly got dressed, not looking at what I was wearing. I surprised myself at how his merely not being here put me in such a bad mood. I remembered Edward's analogy about heroin, now seeing what he meant. It was like I was going into withdrawal, after being with him for so long.

I finally was ready and dragged my feet down the stairs.

Charlie smiled when he saw me coming down the stairs. "Morning!" I merely nodded, my eyes dead and empty, and he immediately picked up on my mood.

I wasn't really paying attention, though. I wondered what I would do today. Maybe I would try to get Jake to talk to me again…he's been pretty distant since Edward came back. The last time I talked to him was when he got me grounded a month ago. Of course, I am still mad at him, but I don't want our friendship to be permanently hurt.

"Something wrong? I thought you liked sunny days."

"Fine. Everything's fine." My voice was monotonous, uncaring. He frowned, apparently giving up. I ate my cereal, cooked Charlie some eggs, and walked out the door.

I went out to my motorcycle; Charlie actually let me keep it after I proved how well I could ride it; and sat there, my fingers tightening and loosening over the handles. I pressed down on the starting handle, and a puddle underneath the wheel splattered water upward. Of course, my top got mud on it. I looked down to see the damage, cursing, when all thoughts stopped.

I looked down at my tan sweater, and my mind suddenly sped into flashback mode. I remembered when I wore this sweater, and Edward and I matched. We drove out to his meadow, and…wait. The meadow! Of course! I wiped the mud off my sweater out and yanked the bike into reverse.

I drove down the highway, going so fast the wind whipped painfully against my face. I completely ignored it. I screeched to a stop on the side of the road when it ended. I jumped off and took off at full speed, heading in the direction of the meadow. Of course, I fell a lot. I scraped up my knees, but luckily, there was no blood, and I was wearing jeans. Even if I did bleed, though, I wouldn't have cared. I would have just cleaned up the blood and kept on going. Only one thought was in my mind, repeating like an old record. Edward's in the meadow. Got to get to the meadow. I could laugh. I was addicted to him!

After about three hours, I recognized the opening that led to the meadow. I smiled, and ran up to the opening. At about ten feet away, I slowed to a walk. Taking a deep breath, I entered the meadow.

My heartbeat skipped a beat when a brilliant diamond was in the middle of the meadow. My angel was here, his brilliant skin illuminating the whole meadow. He was lying on his back, relaxing in the sun. He acted like he didn't realize I was here, but of course I knew better. I walked up to him and dropped to a cross-legged seated position beside him.

He simply smiled. "I was wondering when you would get over here. I've been waiting." His voice was cool and easy, his melodic tone taking my breath away. I felt silly and stupid for not thinking of the meadow earlier. I was glad he couldn't read my mind; he'd probably laugh at me. He sat up, his pure golden eyes surrounded by a brilliant diamond face.

He reached over and kissed me, and we both listened to my heartbeat speed up the instant he touched me. His lips curled upwards as he pulled away, causing me to blush. His smile grew more pronounced.

"You know, you're beautiful when you blush."

Of course, my blush turned almost scarlet, and I felt my face burning. I leaned over to him and put my head against his perfect ice chest, and the only sound I could hear was his breathing. He sighed, placing his arms around my back and touching his lips to my hair.

"I love you," I whispered, and I wrapped my arms around his chest.

He kissed the top of my head before replying, "I love you too, angel."

Nothing else mattered. No matter how many times he said it before, every time he said he loved me, my heart swelled into my chest to the bursting point. He loved me. My world was perfect. I didn't deserve him, but I was glad all the same that he stayed with me.

We sat like that for an immeasurable amount of time, maybe a few minutes, maybe hours, when he suddenly froze. He stopped breathing. I looked up at him and his face was hardened and cold. A small growl came from his chest and the hairs on the back of my neck rose. This was not a friendly growl. It was icy and menacing, implying attack was not out of the question. I turned, so that I was sitting in his lap, and peered into the forest. I saw nothing. I turned back to Edward, confused. His upper lip was now curling upward to show his teeth. I looked, startled, back at him.

"Edward?" Nothing. He tightened his grip on me. "Edward?" There was a hint of panic in my voice now. "Edward, what's wrong?" My voice was a whisper now. He rose fluidly to his feet in one instant, jerking me up with him. I stared into the forest, still seeing nothing. Whatever it was, it was bad, but it was too far away for my dull human senses to detect. In one instant I was flung over his back like a rag doll and he took off at full speed into the forest.

I ducked my head, but could not close my eyes. What was getting Edward so upset? He stopped harshly, and I flew backward and forwards again, smashing into his back.

"Ouch…" My ears were ringing with the impact.

"Damn." He looked frantically around. I looked to see what made him stop. We were at the forest's end. One step further and we would be in the sunlight.

"Edward? What are we running from?"

"It's not a what, Bella, love, but a who." I waited patiently for him to continue, but I could feel my heartbeat speeding up in panic. "They've come, Bella. They're early." My breath caught in my throat, knowing what he was going to say next. "The Volturi are early. We have to run."

I felt like my mind was running into hyper speed as I recalled the memories from Italy. The horror of losing Edward, of not knowing if he loved me. Racing to him in the square to save his life as he attempted to get himself killed. The fear when the Volturi were debating whether I was to live or not. The fear for both of our lives when Edward refused to turn me. The sight, fresh in my mind, of him twitching on the ground in pain, unable to move or even make a sound. And, oh, the horrible screams of those innocent people, murdered for their blood. I shuddered and Edward nodded grimly.

"Umm… Edward?" He set off in a different direction, toward his house.

"Yes, Bella?" His voice was breathless, he too was breathing quickly. He was panicking, too.

Things are bad. We can't stay here. The Volturi drink human blood, so they just can't be allowed to stray anywhere near town. But…

"Where are we going?" He froze for an instant, thrown by my question.

"My house," he answered, slightly confused. He knew I knew where the path he was on led.

"No, no. After." "I…"he slowed slightly, thinking hard about his answer.

"I don't know, love."

"We have to leave." It wasn't a question.

My voice cracked, and tears welled up in my eyes. I don't want to leave Charlie or…Jake, or anyone else for that matter.

Edward immediately stopped, whipping my around to hold me close, to comfort me.

"Shh,…shh. It's ok." His soft, melodic voice soothed me slightly, but not enough to stop me from crying.

"It's not okay!" I mumbled, and tears flew faster down my cheeks. "We have to leave. You have to leave again. I have to run again."

His face turned paler in remembrance of when I had to leave a few years ago, to run from James. His face was suddenly full of pain and he laid his head onto my hair, now his soft, words were now rushed and undetectable, but I tried to take courage from them all the same.

"Edward," I brought his face into my hands, "I love you. I don't want anything to happen."

"Nothing will happen, love. We will stay together this time…promise." He smiled my crooked smile, but it didn't reach his eyes. It looked scary, rather than comforting. I ran my sleeve to my face, wiping away my tears, and tried to smile. It felt strained, and I could tell that, even if he couldn't read my mind, he could see right through my expression to the horror underneath. He kissed me lightly on the forehead. He then scooped me up onto his back again and took off toward the Cullen house. This all happened in a matter of about ten seconds, and, as we traveled faster and faster in the darkness, salty tears ran down my face and onto the back of Edward's shirt. He sighed, still continuing at top speed, and hummed quietly in another attempt to calm me. I stopped crying when I heard my lullaby. I forced myself to pull myself together, for Edward, if not for me.

Within a matter of minutes, we were at the door to the Cullen house. Edward flew into it with such speed that it broke off its hinges, sending it flying sideways into the piano. The piano was destroyed instantly, and keys flew around the room. Within two seconds, every Cullen was in front of Edward and me. At the sight of Edward's hardened face, and my tearstained one, they were all speechless, simply staring in horror, wondering what happened. Carlisle spoke first, breaking the silence.

"What happened, Edward?"

His voice was calm and even. Edward immediately filled in his family, talking quicker than my ears could pick up. All of their faces hardened, and they all turned to Alice, who was crying tearlessly into Jasper's arms.

"I should have known. I should have seen…I should have-" I cut her off, stepping over to her and placing a hand on her shoulder.

"There's no way you could have known, Alice. They weren't expected for months, what reason would you have to check into their futures?"

She sent a small smile in my direction, and mumbled, "Thanks, Bella."

I reached over, and, even though Jasper refused to let her go, angled myself so I could hug her.

"What are friends for?"

Rosalie's voice boomed in interruption. "OK, enough crap. We need a plan. We need to leave. Damn it, I hate moving!"

With that, she disappeared up the stairs. Emmett looked apologetically in my direction and mouthed 'sorry.' I smiled.

"YOU BETTER NOT BE APOLOGIZING, EMMETT!!" Rosalie's voice roared from above us.

With that, Emmett ran up after her. I felt awkward, and out of place.

I moved quietly over to Edward, who put an arm comfortingly around my waist, grabbing my hand and rubbing soothing circles into my palm.

Carlisle looked pointedly at me, before raising his eyebrows. Edward too looked at me, and I could see worry consuming every inch of his glorious face. I wanted to reach out, to comfort him, but I wasn't sure if that would help right now. He seemed so upset; I doubted my comforting words would do much right now. After all, I'm just a human.

His eyes were not golden, but rather an off color, reaching towards black. I started when I noted this; they were golden this morning. I then noticed that his hardened jaw must be for reasons other than his worry.

I began to pull away, but his arm remained firm around my waist. I sighed. "Edward Anthony Mason Cullen, you are so stubborn."

He smiled slightly, but his lips remained in a firm line. He turned to Carlisle, and, still staring into my eyes, only breaking my gaze after a long moment of staring.

"Carlisle. We need to go. They are going to be here in two hours." Carlisle nodded and Esme, Alice, Jasper, and himself dashed up the stairs.

"Edward?"

"Hmm?" He answered distractedly.

"What did Carlisle ask you?" He sighed, upset that I noticed so much.

"He wanted to know…" he still debated on telling me. "two things." I waited for the rest. "First, if they were hungry." My breath caught in my throat. "They are…very. They know I haven't turned you, and they intend to…"he left it at that. I shuddered. He didn't miss it.

"And…the second thing?" I was almost afraid to ask.

"The second thing…" he continued more carefully, but seemed to decide he couldn't phrase it any other way. "He wanted to know if Jane was here, and…she is…"

Jane. No. I dropped to the floor, falling limply onto my knees, and began to cry again. Edward looked horrified, and he knelt down to me, not sure what to do.

"Bella? Honey?" Jane was coming. I knew she couldn't hurt me. Strangely she couldn't affect me at all, but that meant one thing.

She was for Edward.

I began to sob. If Jane found us, she would hurt Edward. The image of him twitching in pain, helpless on the floor, in so much pain he was unable to speak, was suddenly all too vivid in my mind. I sobbed harder. Edward looked helplessly at me, and he brought me to him, wrapping his arms around me, rubbing his hands up and down my back.

"Shh…its ok." He repeated it, chanting it slowly, trying to calm me down. It didn't work.

"I…I can't…" my voice cracked repeatedly, and it was hard to hear through my sobs. "I-I can't …I just CAN'T Edward!" I banged my fists into his chest, and he let me be his punching bag. He then pulled my hand out of a fist and touched it to his face.

I gulped and looked into his eyes. "What? What can't you do?" His eyes were soft and kind, but full to the brim of worry and regret. He completely regretted telling me about Jane. He didn't know what to do; I could see it in his eyes. I heard footsteps at the top of the stairway. Suddenly Jasper was next to Edward.

"What the? I felt her emotions from the top floor. What happened, Edward?" Jasper's voice was soon followed by waves of calming, but they didn't help. As soon as my mind wandered to Jane again, I burst out in a fresh wave of sobs. Jasper looked at Edward, and his face was etched in worry. I was still sobbing, and the vision of Edward writhing in pain was still vivid in my mind.

"Jasper, I don't know what's wrong with her. She just said 'I can't' and …I don't know…I've tried everything!" His voice cracked now and that startled me. I gulped, and stared at him.

Jasper looked at me, his eyes deep in concentration, and suddenly, his eyes were full of sadness and worry.

He was reflecting my emotions.

Edward was looking at Jasper now, probably reading his mind. He then looked to me, confused.

"Why are you scared…for me?" His topaz eyes burned with curiosity and I could tell he wasn't going to expect the answer he was going to get.

I opened my mouth to answer, when Alice's voice rang through the house. "Jasper!" her tinkling voice beckoned her love, and in a flash, Jasper disappeared.

I swallowed hard, and prepared to answer him. "Edward." I gulped and fresh tears ran silently down my cheeks. He held up a finger and wiped away my tears, looking at me, his face calm, waiting. He nodded in encouragement. "I just…I can't…Jane…she-"

"Jane? She can't affect you, love, remember?" Now he was confused. Of course I remembered. If only that was the problem.

He picked my up by my shoulders and set me in his lap, I pressed my face into his chest.

"No, but she can hurt you. And I can't see that again. I can't…" I began crying again into his shirt. Edward gently held me in his arms, rocking me back and forth. Once I stopped crying, I looked up into his eyes.

His face was frozen in pain. His eyes were depthless, but full of sadness. He looked as if he were the one who was going to cry now. I reached out and he smiled at me.

"You were so upset…crying and sobbing…because you were worried about me?" His smile was small, but soon disappeared. It was replaced by anguish as he looked up the stairs. Alice appeared beside him and I jumped. I hadn't been expecting anyone to come down yet. I looked up at her face. She startled me. Her face was grieving.

"Alice?" She looked at me, and Edward's face was immensely more sad. What was going on now?

"What's wrong, Alice?" She shook her head, putting a cheerful smile on her face. OK, now I'm confused.

(Edward's Point of View)

"You were so upset…crying and sobbing…because you were worried about me?" I couldn't believe she was so worried about me. I was touched, and glad, glad that she cared that much. But, of course, also doused in grief. If I wanted to protect Bella, I needed to be careful, too, because she was so worried about everything. My thoughts were shattered as I heard Alice's intake of breath from above me. I looked up to her and singled out her thoughts. I was instantly sharing her vision of the future.

_Bella was crying under a tree in our meadow. "No, this can't be happening." She looked up into the shadows as someone with blood red eyes approached her, covered in darkness. It was Aro. He beamed at her, as if he were giving her the best gift in the world. I heard him growl softly. He was starving and Bella was just sitting there, defenseless. I saw myself, chained to a tree. That's odd. I should be able to break those. I say myself call out weakly, "Bella…" I then noticed how badly I was shaking. Jane was smiling at me, leaning against a nearby tree. Her eyes were full of concentration, using the full effects of her powers on me. I saw myself cry out in pain, heard Bella's worried cry, and saw Aro stalking forward. He leaned over, pulled back his lips, exposing his teeth. I struggled harder against my mental bindings, to no avail. Aro leaned over, brushed Bella's hair away from her neck and bit in. He did not pull away, but continued to drink deeply. He was draining her. Bella's scream rang out through the meadow, and within minutes, she was drained. She turned to look at me, tears falling down her glorious face, before whispering with her final breath, "I love you, Edward." Then she slumped against the tree, dead. My screams echoed throughout the entire forest, before darkness engulfed my vision as I passed out, hearing only the cold, distant sound of Jane's laughter._

The vision was horrible, and I heard Alice crying tearlessly into Jasper's arms.

I was filled with anguish. It couldn't be true.

_I'm sorry you saw that, Edward._ Alice's thoughts were close and I suddenly felt her right beside me.

We both could only stare sadly at Bella, who looked scared by our reactions. She called out twice, but Alice just slipped on a smile and acted like nothing happened. Typical Alice. She jumped up, grabbed Bella's hand, and pulled her up the stairs.

"Come on, Bella! We need to get you something to pack!"

_Are you OK, Edward_? I nodded weakly, whispering so only she could hear, "I'll be fine, Alice. Thanks…"

Once Bella was safely out of earshot, I began to cry.

(BELLA'S POINT OF VIEW)

A half an hour had passed, and we were now all holding suitcases. Everyone piled their suitcases into Carlisle's car. He was the only one taking one. He got into his car and Esme walked up to Edward and I.

Edward handed her the shirts that both of us were wearing this morning. Esme took them and put them in the compartment storage of my bike. Esme then climbed on and drove off. I looked at Edward, confused?

"She's setting up our deaths now." I could feel the horror on my face. "She's going to drive the bike off a cliff, and meet Carlisle at the hospital afterwards, where Carlisle will have our death certificates." His voice was calm, as though he'd done this before. Suddenly Alice, Edward, and Jasper gasped at the same time. Alice must have seen something. That would explain why Edward gasped too…but Jasper? The emotions from the vision must be insane! Emmett, Rosalie and I stared that them as all three of them closed their eyes to view, or…feel in Jasper's case, the vision and its emotions radiating from it. Finally, Edward opened his eyes. "We need to go. NOW." He scooped me up into his arms, cradling me, and he took off at full speed into the forest, heading north. The others were soon right behind us. "Edward? What did you see?" "It was nothing to worry about Bella." He was lying. It was obvious. "Don't lie to me." "I'm not." His voice was calm…too calm. I glared at him. "Dammit Edward! Even Jasper reacted to it! It must have been bad! Don't lie to me!" He sighed in resignation and looked down at me. "Edward. Look up. If you smash into a tree-"

"I won't."

"You might. And only one of us would be able to walk away." He growled and said something too quick for me to catch. Emmett chuckled behind me. He did look up, though. "So…what did you see?" He made a face. "You didn't think I could forget that quick, did you?"

Again he murmured, but I caught it this time. "A guy can hope…"

I laughed quietly, but waited for him to tell me. "They are running now. They would have caught up to us in ten minutes had we stayed still. They are really close Bella. I can hear their thoughts."

His face reverted to the anguished look from before. That reminded me…

"Edward?" He glanced down at me at a human pace, before swerving quickly to dodge a tree. "What did Alice see?"

"I told you…they're closer and-"

"No, no…before… in the house."

His face erupted in emotion. It paled, and flashed through a memory, and sadness, anguish, and a flicker of anger all passed through his face in a second. He quickly composed his face, before glancing down at me with a smile.

"Nothing, love. Just-"

"Edward, I swear! Lie to me again…" I glared furiously at his face.

His expressions immediately shifted.

Pain and anguish covered every inch of his glorious face. He looked as if he were crying, his body shaking as he held me and looked purposefully away from me. I reached one hand up and stroked his glorious face. "Edward? Are you OK? What did she see?" I spoke in a soft voice, intending to be comforting. Apparently, my coaxing worked. He looked down at me, my angel's face devastated with sadness. His golden eyes were soft, but something about them was off, he seemed miserable. "I…" his voice was barely a whisper, and I struggled to hear him. "I saw Aro kill you and…I was right there…and I couldn't do anything about it…you were screaming and crying…and …" he broke off, looking pointedly away again. I reached my arms around him and shifted so I could hug him. He was leaving something out…editing…but I didn't care at the moment. My angel was crying, and that was all that mattered. I reached up and stroked his cheek.

"Angels shouldn't cry…"

I doubt anyone but Edward heard it. I didn't even hear it. There was barely any volume in my voice and it was low and quiet too.

He smiled slightly and looked back up as he sped up to his top speed into the dark forest.

(Edward's Point of View)

_Edward._

Jasper's voice rang out in my head, and he was instantly beside me. Bella, who had been awake for the last twenty hours with me, was now sleeping in my arms. I looked over to him. "Yes?"

"I…uh…I," Waves of patience washes through me, so I simply waited. He had to spill it out eventually. "I umm…wanted to know…"he apparently gave up. He sighed. "Alice told me…about the vision in the meadow."

I could feel my eyes turning blacker. He flinched. Of course Alice told him. Hopefully she didn't say anything about the me crying thing…

"Yeah?" He nodded before continuing.

"And…are you ok, Edward? If I saw something like that happen to Alice…" he didn't need to finish.

"I'm fine Jasper," I lied. Of course I wasn't ok! I saw my Bella, my sweet angel, my love, murdered by Aro, while I was forced to watch her. Die. In our meadow! But, my feelings shouldn't burden the others. I was the oldest. Even older than our 'mother,' Esme. I was the one who had to make sure everything was all right when Carlisle was away, and that all peace was kept. So, for now, I had to lie.

"Thanks, though, Jasper. Really."

I suddenly felt Alice's intent eyes on me. Oh…so that's what was going on. "You can give your report to Alice now…I'm fine." I forced a smile on my face, and it must have been convincing, because he smiled guiltily.

"Guilty…" If he could have blushed, he probably would have been scarlet. "Alice made me ask…I had to. You understand." He smiled weakly, nodding his head toward Bella.

I nodded. Yes, I understood. I understood the inability to go against our love's will. Bella's wish was my command. Well, all but one wish. But I just might have to make that wish come true earlier now.

I was going to turn Bella in a week. Only one week. If the Volturi had come even a week later, none of this would be happening. We wouldn't be leaving. I wouldn't be taking Bella from her home. Bella would be safe, though, in my opinion, eternally damned. Damn it. I cried tearlessly. Alice sent me comforting thoughts, though I barely heard them in my misery. Not even Jasper calmed me.

Why couldn't I protect her? I was cursed with super-strength and super-speed, even mind reading abilities, yet I couldn't protect one human. My angel was constantly in danger. And I was helpless. When I got my hands on Jane I would kill her, before she got the chance to capture me, and before Aro got to Bella. I growled fiercely, before turning north, heading for the border. We were going to Denali.

(Esme's Point of View)

I walked over the Edward, stopping a few feet away and extending my arm.

_Do you have the shirts? _

Edward brought out the shirts that the both of them were wearing this morning. I brought it onto the bike and climbed on myself. I heard Edward explaining my job to Bella as I sped away. Suddenly, her bike whined in protest. I looked at the speedometer.

Oops…200mph. Her bike must not be able to go very fast. I went back down under a hundred before pulling over on the side of the road. I reached for Edward's shirt first. I tore a jagged line through the chest and tore off a sleeve. Good enough. I grabbed Bella's tan sweater and her pink blouse, ripping them to shreds. OK, evidence taken care of. I lay the pieces in assorted places over the bike. That was, when someone found the bike and the clothes, it would look like they struggled against a shark or something. Carlisle and I would attend the funeral and mourn and such before joining Edward in Denali, Alaska. I pulled the bike back onto the road and drove to the nearest cliff.

OK, take a deep breath.

Funny, how such a human habit is so calming. I guess that carried over, too.

OK, in, out, go! I pressed my foot all the way down on the brake, and grew quickly closer to the edge of the cliff. Suddenly there was nothing under the wheels and I was falling quickly into the water. I immediately loosened my leg hold on the bike. After it sunk about ten feet into the water I swam to the top. I gulped, looking up to the top of the cliff. No one was there. But I needed to leave.

Now.

A disgusting smell filled my nostrils when I got to the shallow water - wet dog, and that meant only one thing.

Sam Uley's little group of werewolves was nearby.

I ran with all my speed into the forest. About twenty miles from the beach, a strong arm grabbed my arm and pulled me behind a tree.

I gasped, and found myself face to face with who could only belong to Jacob Black. He not only looked like Bella's descriptions of him, but he looked distinctly familiar to his ancestors whom we signed the treaty with.

"What are you doing on LaPush property, leech?" he lashed out harshly.

"No worries, Jacob, I was just leaving." He raised his eyebrows at the sound of me calling him by such an informal name, like we were friends, instead of archenemies.

"Leech, I ask you again. What. Are. You. Doing. Here?" He spoke each word slowly, as if I would not understand if he did not treat me like a three-year old.

"Young man, I simply took a wrong turn, I assure you. And do not speak to your elders with such a tone." I let a disapproving motherly look spread across my face. "I need not remind you that I am older than your grandfather would be were he alive today." He seemed surprised at the harsh tone that had unwillingly entered my tone, making my tone biting and icy. Not wanting to keep Carlisle waiting, I jerked my arm out of his grip and curtsied slightly. "Goodbye, Jacob Black. Sorry to cut our conversation short, but my husband is waiting." And with that I took off again towards the hospital, leaving him mumbling to his friends that I sensed hiding in the darkness, ready to attack if he became endangered.

(Carlisle's Point of View)

Where was Esme? She should be here by now. I paced silently back and forth across the hospital entrance, Bella and Edward's death certificates hidden in my jacket pocket. I stopped pacing when I heard Esme coming through the forest about twenty miles off. I paused, smiling. Within five seconds she was next to me, and we both put grieving looks upon our faces as we walked to the nearby police station. We entered the station, and, as if on cue, Esme burst into 'tears.' I patted her shoulder comfortingly. It was all an act, of course. But humans are hard to convince, and the humans usually find her crying hard to resist. Odd, but if it works… We walked to the front desk, and I asked for the direction to Chief Swan's office. When we arrived there, Charlie jumped out of his seat.

"Mr. Cullen?"

"Chief Swan. I am afraid we have some bad news." Esme 'burst into tears' again and it made Charlie uncomfortable. He held out his hand in the direction of two chairs, and we both took them. Charlie then sat down in his seat.

"Now, what can I do for you?"

"I would like to report two deaths." He pulled out his notepad and scribbled down "two deaths." After he finished, he looked up at me, implying I should continue.

"There is sufficient evidence that my wife stumbled upon as she was taking a walk that is quite disturbing."

"Bodies?" He spoke in his police tone, and I felt guilty; I was about to break his heart over a lie. But it had to be done…

"Unfortunately, no. But enough evidence that even I can see that deaths occurred." He nodded, writing down my every word. "Do you know the names of the victims?"

"Err, yes. The two victims are…Edward Cullen…"Esme began crying again and Charlie dropped his pen.

"Carlisle…I'm so-"

"And," I cut him off. "Isabella Swan." He stared at me in disbelief. I nodded sadly and Esme blew her nose. She looked up at Charlie.

"I found B-Bella's bike, and the remains of their clothing was EVERYWHERE, just shredded. It was by the cliff in LaPush…oh Carlisle!" She threw herself into my arms, and I rocked her back and forth. Charlie had paled, and he almost looked as pale as us.

"Is he ok?" Esme asked me quickly, too quickly for Charlie to hear. "Oh, I hate doing this."

"You're doing a good job." I offered, too low for the human to hear. We looked over to Charlie who was painfully writing the two victim's names on his sheet before beckoning for us to join him. He brought the paper to the front desk, where the lady gasped, and without asking, timed him out for the day.

"Charlie…my family and I are too grievous to remain in Forks…to many memories, you know? We are leaving later today, and going to California." He simply nodded, still in shock. We helped him to his car before heading into the shadows of the forest. With that, we left, and broke out into a full run towards the North. We should be able to get to Denali to meet up with everybody else in two days, if we continue at this speed. I felt guilty, but it was for the better. No one needed the Volturi to come drink from our town. I just hoped Edward and the others were doing OK…

(Alice's Point of View)

Jasper ran back to me, filling me in on his conversation with Edward. Unfortunately, they had spoken mentally, so I only heard Edward's replies. Almost immediately after Jasper stopped speaking, I froze. Jasper stopped to look at me as my eyes glazed over. I saw the others pause cautiously before I was lost to my vision.

_Bella was crying under a tree in our meadow. "No, this can't be happening." She looked up into the shadows as someone with blood red eyes approached her, covered in darkness. It was Aro. He beamed at her, as if he were giving her the best gift in the world. I heard him growl softly. He was starving and Bella was just sitting there, defenseless. I saw Edward,, chained to a tree. That's odd. He should be able to break those. I saw him call out weakly, "Bella…" I then noticed how badly he was shaking. Jane was smiling at me, leaning against a nearby tree. Her eyes were full of concentration, using the full effects of her powers on me. I saw him cry out in pain, heard Bella's worried cry, and saw Aro stalking forward. He leaned over, pulled back his lips, exposing his teeth. Edward struggled harder against his mental bindings, to no avail. Aro leaned over, brushed Bella's hair away from her neck and bit in. He did not pull away, but continued to drink deeply. He was draining her. Bella's scream rang out through the meadow, and within minutes, she was drained. She turned to look at me, tears falling down her glorious face, before whispering with her final breath, "I love you, Edward." Then she slumped against the tree, dead. His screams echoed throughout the entire forest, before he passed out. Jane burst into insane laughter. "Oh boy, this is just too rich, Aro!" She walked over to Edward, and I hated that I could not alter my vision now, to rip Jane and Aro to pieces for what they did to Bella. Jane walked slowly over to Edward, untying his chains and throwing him over her shoulder. "But now, he's mine, and I won't be giving him up any time soon." Again she laughed, and she and Aro ran off into the forest, Edward unconscious over Jane's shoulder. I ran to follow them, and saw as they swam back to Italy, dragging Edward along with them. When, days later, they arrived in the castle in which they resided, Jane brought Edward to her quarters. She locked the door laughed evilly, placing pieces of wood on his chest. Once she was finished she lit a small match and walked forward to kill my brother…_

I screamed into consciousness. Jasper stared at me and ran over to comfort me. Rosalie and Emmett ran over to Edward, who collapsed onto the ground. Oh no. Edward! What would he think of the vision? "Edward, I-" I didn't know what to say… What do you say to some one whose death you predicted?

"Alice?" Jasper's voice was cautious and I saw in his eyes he was reflecting Edward's emotions. "What did you see?"

I shook my head.

"No…no. It doesn't matter…I can't…I won't let it happen. You hear that, Edward. No way will I let her do that to you."

He looked back up at me, the pain in his eyes clear. I set off running again, and only I knew why Edward was so upset. The others simply stared off at me in confusion before running after me.

"Alice?" Jasper looked into my eyes as we sat in our room in Denali. "What did you see? Why is Edward so…lifeless?" I flinched at the word. "He is acting like…when he left Bella…like…"he struggled so hard for words. "Like his life won't go on anymore." "NO!" I screeched. "No…life will go on…he can't…I won't let him…" I broke off, crying. A look of comprehension came upon Jasper's face. "You…you saw him…dead, didn't you Alice?" I nodded, and he brought me into his arms to comfort me. "How…who?" He didn't know how to ask it. "Jane…after Aro killed Bella, Edward passed out…and the two of the, took him to Italy. Jane took him to her room and…burned him." I broke off again, sobbing tearlessly into Jasper's arms.

An inaudible gasp outside our door made me jump up quickly. Jasper looked at me confusedly, but I was running out the door.

"No, Bella! I-" Bella was running down the hall and out the front door, crying.

No! I was so stupid to say that when there was a chance Bella would hear! Now she would be so scared…she knows of her own and her love's impending demise…

_EDWARD!_ I screamed in my head frantically. He appeared at my side in an instant. _Edward…I didn't mean to, I swear! She heard me tell Jazz about the vision…the one where you… _

Edward was out the door in a flash. I ran out after him, Jasper at my heels.

(BELLA'S POINT OF VIEW)

I was walking down the hall to Edward's room, when something Jasper said caught my attention. "You…you saw him…dead, didn't you Alice?" Who? "How…who?" This was Jasper again. "Jane…after Aro killed Bella, Edward passed out…and the two of the, took him to Italy. Jane took him to her room and…burned him." NO! I gasped and took off running towards the door. Alice ran out at a human speed, calling after me. "No, Bella. I-"

Edward. Dead. Me. Dead. Who else would die! I ran out the front door. No one stopped me because no one knew what was going on. Edward. Dead. No. It can't be. Jane is going to kill him?! I had to…I don't know! All of this is my fault and now Edward is going to die for it!

I ran, falling often, until I found a log, buried in the snow, with a hollow inside. I crawled in, wrapping my knees to my chest. I heard Alice calling my name, getting closer. She stopped above me and called out for Edward. I heard the crunch of the snow as he arrived. "I smell her here, but…where did she go? Dammit!"

His voice sent me into silent tears again. I heard Alice say something about checking back at the cabin, and she was gone. I heard Edward walking around until he stopped, directly above me, above the log.

Suddenly, I was lifted up into the air, and I set back on the ground, no longer hidden. I caught my reflection in the lake water. I looked horrible. My eyes were red from crying. My face was white from the cold. My hair was covered in snow. I looked back up at Edward, who was kneeling down in front of me. He pulled me to him, and I began to cry again.

"Edward…I heard Alice in her room…she said she saw you…"

"Shh…shh..I know." He said this so calmly. I started. How could he be so calm? He saw his own death! I looked into his face, and the pain that was absent in his voice was clear in his golden eyes. He brought me to him again, rocking me slowly.

"Alice's dreams aren't definite, Bella. I'm sure this one is wrong. There is no way…no way I would let Aro get to you in the first place. So there is no worry about the second part of her vision."

His words were melodic, and my crying slowly stopped. I brought me sleeve to my face to wipe my tears away. Edward then picked me up into his arms, cradling me, and got ready to run back towards the house.

A quiet hiss made him freeze, though. He held me tighter, growling furiously, sending shivers down my spine. I cried out as I saw why he was so angry. I could only stare in fear as ten vampires, Aro and Jane included, surrounded us.

We were trapped.

"Well, well." Aro stepped forward from the circle, and the vampires filled in the space. He only took one step, towards us, towards me. "We finally found you two."

All traces of his humor from our last meeting had vanished; his tone was icy and cold.

"You two were very smart to come to Denali. Your little friends covered your scent well in the snow."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Edward smirk briefly. Jane glared at him in response.

"I am lucky Bella is your _la tua cantante_, Edward, or else I might not have picked up on your scents at all."

Edward growled menacingly, a low sound in the back of his throat, and his lips curled to expose razor sharp, pointed teeth. Chills ran from the crown of my head to the bottoms of my feet.

Aro took another step forwards. Edward brought me closer to him in response.

"We have given you two months, Edward." Aro continued. "You were to turn Bella, as we agreed upon in Italy. Or have you forgotten?" His voice was now skeptical. Somehow, though, his voice still sent chills down my spine. Edward gripped my shoulder, trying to calm me. I worked on keeping my breathing even.

"Bella is most definitely still mortal, Edward. I'm afraid this is most disappointing." His voice seemed almost sympathetic, yet still kept its icy tone.

Aro took one more sep towards me. He was now a mere two feet away. He outstretched his arm towards me, running one icy finger down my cheek. My eyes opened wide in alarm. Edward also stiffened at my side. I looked into Aro's blood red eyes, and they scared me. They were full of hunger and anger. His eyes then turned friendly, and he smiled slightly, as if he were about to give me a treat.

"I'm afraid we'll have to kill you."


	2. Chapter 2

He smiled slightly, as if expecting me to clap my hands in joy.

Edward roared, "NO!"

He pulled me behind him instantly. The vampires surrounding us ran in at lightning speed.

Edward jumped forward, protecting me from harm. I stood in horror, unable to move, as I watched him fight off the vampires who wished to take my life.

_He can't fight them all off._ My traitor thoughts echoed through my head. _There must be at least twenty of them, and it took two vampires to kill James. How is he expected to kill twenty _and_ protect me?_

_No. I have to think positive. That vision of Alice's…_I mentally shuddered…_just _can't_ be true. Edward will defeat the vampires, Edward would turn me, we'd go somewhere safe, maybe even stay here, and everything will be fine. Everything will be fine. It has to be._

I screamed when a large, icy arm wound itself around my waist. In a split second, I was thrown over a tall, bulky vampire, who I had seen in Italy but couldn't remember his name, 's shoulder.

Edward whipped around in alarm at the sound of my scream. His enraged roar shook the forest trees as he ran towards me.

Two vampires ran forward and grabbed his arms, pulling backwards. Edward still pulled forwards. Another vampire jumped forward, but my Edward still persisted. He slowed slightly, though. In the end, it took four vampires to keep Edward still. His arms were pulled behind his back and he was snarling fiercely, snapping his teeth towards the vampires. He whipped his head back around towards me.

When our eyes met, I saw many emotions fly through his eyes. At first, anger, draining as he looked away from the vampires. A split second later, worry, anguish, pain. Not for himself, of course. All of his thoughts were centered around me, just as all mine were centered around him. Lastly, fear. Pure fear.

When I saw it in his eyes, the emotion consumed me. Edward was never scared. At least, he never showed it. But now, as I looked into his eyes, open in alarm, it was obvious that he didn't care about hiding emotions; he only was worried about me, about what they would do to me.

The vampire holding me over his shoulder dragged me effortlessly towards Aro; I beat uselessly on his back with all my strength.

"Let me go! Now! Edward!" I called out to him, but he was unable to move. He struggled harder, if possible, with no luck.

I looked back to the vampire holding me. I pounded harder on his back. I might as well have been lightly tapping him – his temple throbbed impatiently, and he brought me to his chest and held me securely. I was in an iron prison in his grasp. When he reached Aro, he simply dropped me onto the ground. Marcus was suddenly behind me, restraining my arms in the same fashion as Edward's. I struggled against his hold, screaming for him to let me go, but he just sighed, whispering in his liquid language to Aro. Aro chuckled darkly, whispering so low I strained to hear him. "Not yet. I want to have some fun."

Aro walked briskly, at a human pace, toward Edward, who was still struggling with all his strength against his hold. A fifth vampire had come in to assist in restraining him. I smiled mentally; my Edward needed five vampires just to keep him still. All traces of humor vanished when Aro reached out for Edward, a horrible, terrifying smile on his face. What was he planning?

He placed his outstretched hand lightly on Edward's shoulder, making sure to stay out of the way of his teeth. He closed his eyes for what seemed like an eternity, before opening them, having read every thought that had ever entered Edward's mind.

"Temper, temper, Edward." He chuckled lightly, as if Edward's enragement was humorous. His attitude was light and cheerful again, and I relaxed slightly. The worst must be over. Maybe, if we can coax him, played our cards right, he would let us go. Edward would turn me, and everything would be fine. Right?

"My dear Alice." Aro chuckled again. "What interesting visions she has. Always entertaining." He grinned impishly.

Jane looked at him, angry at being left out, and confused about what he meant. She obviously wasn't used to not being included.

Edward and I both froze, not moving at all. I knew that we both were reliving the vision, now a little longer, thanks to Alice's most recent vision. _Oh no. _Would Aro and Jane follow the vision?

I could see it in his eyes. Yes. Yes he would.

"Marcus." Aro's eyes flicked briefly over to me, and suddenly I was thrown over his shoulder, landing painfully against his stone shoulder.

"Let me go! Let go of me!" I screamed and pounded on his back.

"Shut up, human. You are lucky I am on orders not to kill you now." I froze. His coal black eyes told me he was not lying. His hands shook with thirst; he wasn't breathing. Aro must terrify him when angry if he was trying this hard not to kill me. I was grateful. I tried to breathe as little as necessary. I didn't want to provoke him.

Marcus walked at a human pace to Aro, whose eyes were ominously dark. He smiled pleasantly at Edward. All but the five restraining Edward joined Aro.

"Well, Edward. I have things to do, places to see. So sorry to interrupt. You can now go back to your family and live your normal lives. Oh, and Edward. If you want Bella," he stroked my cheeks with one icy finger-it left a hot trail, as if I was burned, but didn't feel it yet, where he touched me-, "not to end up dead, you will not follow us." He spoke lightly, mocking him.

Edward looked horrified. He looked into my eyes, and they apologized. He nodded, and bowed his head, defeated. I felt tears flowing over my eyes.

No! How could he give up?! I struggled against Marcus, trying to break his grip. Of course, his hold didn't loosen in the slightest bit, but at least I had not given up! No, no. Edward had to fight! I had been at risk before, and he persisted. Why did he stop now?

"Oh, and say hello to Carlisle for me. Good bye, Edward Cullen." And with that, we took off into the forest.

"Edward!" I screamed out, reaching to him, but it was no use. He was still held tightly by the vampires, his head bowed low. He looked up to me, eyes full of sadness, before we disappeared into the trees. I cried as we traveled through the seemingly endless Alaskan forest.

(Edward's Point of View)

"Edward!" Bella's voice screamed through the forest. I looked up to her face, which was full of fear, tears streaming down her face, one arm reaching pointlessly towards me.

No! I had to help Bella! I fought against my captors, but it was no use.

Bella was gone. She would die. I would die. All hope was lost. I cried tearlessly, my legs seemingly suddenly unbearably weak. I fell to my knees.

"Oh, is the little vampire _crying_ over his little human girl? How despicable, you scum. Get your act together." One of the vampires spat at me, his voice bitingly icy.

"So," another one said conversationally, "do we kill him now, or what?"

What? Kill me? I had to help Bella. Get away, get my family, go kill the bad guys, save the princess, no _goddess_, and get our happily ever after. Kill me? No! I froze in shock.

"Aro _did_ say we could do whatever we wanted with him after he left." He nodded.

Suddenly, all of my vampire instincts seemed to come up at once. I roared, and it was louder, deeper, fiercer than before. They all stared at me in horror and alarm.

These…monsters…helped in Bella, _my Bella_'s, capture. They would all die. I broke free of their grasp, grabbing one of them by the throat. I sliced it easily, and moved on to the next one. Within a minute, they were all dead. Gasping in breaths to try to, emphasis on 'try', calm down, I ran at full speed towards the home we were staying in.

The door broke the instant I ran into it. Rosalie was in front of me immediately.

"What is it with you and breaking doors? You know, they do open. You don't have to break them all-"

"If you do not get out of my way _now_, I swear to God, I will kill you here and now." I hissed. Her face paled as she took in my appearance, furious, yet sad, and covered in blood, dirt, and snow; she quickly moved out of my way.

"Alice!" I screamed, and she was instantly beside me.

"OH MY GOD!" She screamed, bawling. "ARE YOU OK? I SHOULD HAVE WARNED YOU! I ONLY JUST SAW…OH MY GOD BELLA!! WHAT SHOULD WE DO?!" Jasper appeared beside her, holding her. He looked at me pointedly.

_What happened? Where on Earth is Bella?_

"The Volturi. They came. They took Bella. She's gone." My voice shook, and my weight gave below me.

(Jasper's Point of View)

"The Volturi. They took Bella. She's gone." And with that, he collapsed onto the ground. I let go of Alice to help him, but was interrupted.

"Edward?!" Emmett, having come in only to see Edward collapse, covered in blood, ran to his side. He knelt beside him, shaking his shoulder. "Edward?"

No response, only a quiet, ripping sound coming from his throat. He wasn't growling; he was sobbing, not a tear coming from his eyes.

I 'felt' anger and worry coming from Emmett.

"Is someone going to tell me what the **HELL** is going on?" he roared.

I held Alice in my arms again; she continued to sob. "The Volturi took Bella. That's all we know, all he said before he collapsed." With each word I said, his eyes opened wider in alarm.

The room was filled with so many chaotic emotions, it was overwhelming. I groaned as I held my forehead. I sent a calming wave throughout the room, trying to lessen the tension, sadness, worry, and anger all screaming throughout my head. It lessened immensely as all but two sent small smiles in m direction. Rosalie, I expected; she almost _never_ smiles. But Edward…he sent waves of anger towards me. He obviously didn't want to be cheered up or calmed right now.

We each took turns trying to get Edward to talk, or even _move_. No luck. Well, all but one. Alice had locked herself up in our room, repeating endlessly, "I'm sorry, Edward. I'm so sorry." A week passed with no progress; Edward still wouldn't move and Alice wouldn't stop her apologetic chanting.

"Here Alice. You haven't hunted in two weeks. You need to eat." I set two moose on the ground at her feet. Finally, _finally,_ she stopped chanting and moved, sliding slowly off the bed. She grabbed one moose and began to drink from it. When she drained it, I pushed it aside.

"Thanks, Jazz."

"Happy to help." I smiled timidly at her, and received a small, meek smile in return. When she finished the other one, I decided to chance skipping small talk.

"What did you see? What happened? Bella," she cringed, "Sorry…Edward, he…he's covered in blood. It is _hers?_"

"NO! Of course not. After Aro left with Bella, Edward killed-"

"WHAT?" Edward had not murdered in years! Almost ninety years to date!

"Let me finish. He killed four vampires who were holding him captive."

"OK. I need you to explain that."

She sighed before telling me the entire story, from when she told me of seeing Edward dead to when he burst through the door and collapsed. Within five minutes, my mouth hung open in surprise. I didn't recompose my expression when she finished.

"You know," she said, giggling. "You look like a frog waiting for some fly to just pop in your mouth!"

If I could have blushed, I would have been scarlet. I looked away, closing my mouth and putting on a calm mask.

"S-so…the reason Edward hasn't gone after them yet…is that," I gulped. "that…the…Volturi threatened to kill Bella?" She nodded glumly.

"Edward," I called to him, not raising my voice at all; he would hear. "Edward, you know that by not going after her, that they will kill her anyways?"

"I can't chance it." His mumbled voice came so soft, I barely heard it. I started. He hadn't even breathed in two weeks.

Wait. Maybe Alice could convince him to go after Bella if I couldn't. I turned towards her.

"Alice. Talk to Edward. I'm sure that _you_ could talk to him. He asked for you in the first place." She looked horrified, and it confused me.

"Oh come on. Talking to him isn't bad. What are you afraid of?" Waves of fear and dread gushed from her.

"I should have seen it sooner. It's my fault. You remember the last time I had a vision about Bella! He _still_ hasn't forgiven Rosalie!

"But Alice, this is different. He _asked_ specifically for _you_." She considered that, before nodding slightly. I kissed her.

"Thanks, Alice." She smiled.

"Whatever." But she smiled still, beaming more like it, and danced down the stairway. It took my breath away. God I love her.

I just hope she can help Edward.

(Alice's Point of View)

God. I do not want to do this. But Jasper really wants me to. I just hope he doesn't _hate_ me.

"E-Edward?" My voice cracked in, fear? I didn't know, but I _was_ deathly afraid. Afraid he would shun me, hate me, despise me for not warning him sooner.

He actually looked up. Well, he actually only turned so that he faced me, but according to Jazz, he had not even breathed in weeks. His face was pained. He had been crying a lot, and his face seemed permanently etched into darkness and sadness. I took a deep breath before continuing.

"Edward, I-I'm so sorry! I should have seen it coming! I should have warned you! I should have been 'looking!' Oh, Edward! Please don't hate me!" By the end, I was sobbing and choking.

He abruptly sat up and pulled me to him. I started; he moved. To comfort me.

"Hate you? Never! Shh. Shh. Oh, I could never hate you, Alice. No matter what." he vowed.

"Then _why _wouldn't you talk or…_move_!?" Sadness flitted across his face, and I could see he was beginning to crumble again. "Never mind." I mumbled softly.

"I don't know what to do, Alice!" He started shaking again and we cried together for a while. I finally pulled myself together and placed one hand on his shoulder.

"Why did you want me…before?" He looked up, at first confused, before comprehension slowly dawned upon his face.

"OH! Alice! I need a favor! Please!" His voice and eyes begged desperately. This surprised me. He usually was very calm (or angry), but now his mask was gone, his true emotions showing through completely. My eyes opened wide.

"What? What do you need? I'll do _anything_ you want!" I leapt up, pulling him up beside me. He was weak from hunger, and I had to help support him.

"Thanks." He mumbled. I nodded. "Um, I need you to look into the future for me."

"Whose?" I already was closing my eyes, falling into concentration. I was sure it was one of the Volturi, maybe Aro or Marcus…

"Bella's." Oh. Oh course. I opened my eyes for a nanosecond, to show him I heard him. As I fell into my vision, I could feel my body collapse into Edward's arms. He pulled us both to the ground.

_"Let me go!" Bella was suddenly right beside me, blindfolded. Her wrists were tied behind her back, though why I had no idea. I recognized where they were immediately, though I had only been passing through the one time I was there. They were Arizona. About twenty feet behind them, the Grand Canyon lay, seemingly endless. All was pitch black. Even my eyes struggled to see._

_"Edward will stop you! Edward will save me!" She gasped and fell to the ground when Jane came up to her and slapped her. Hard. Her cheek bled slightly with the impact. All of them, even Aro, whose mood was previously cheerful like I remembered, stiffened._

_Oh no._

_Marcus, his midnight black eyes suddenly wild with hunger, seemed to go insane. He roared and charged for Bella at full speed. Aro pulled her out of his way. Marcus overstepped the canyon and growled, a low sound in the back of his throat, as he barreled towards the bottom. Aro walked towards the canyon next, looking down, smiling. Marcus was perfectly unharmed at the bottom. Huh. I would have thought the Grand Canyon would have been too far to fall, even for a vampire; apparently not. Marcus outstretched his arms. Jane ran off the edge next; Marcus caught her. All but Aro then jumped off the cliff, most landing gracefully. I laughed hard when one fell on his butt and swore. The only ones on the top left were Aro and Bella. He pressed one pointed nail into her back and pressed her, gently, but with enough force to show her he was not fooling around, towards the edge._

_"Ow! Let me go! Edward will kill you all! Edward will-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!" She had reached the edge and was falling towards the bottom; no one made an effort to catch her. She was just falling, screaming. There was no way she would survive!_

"NO! Bella! Someone help her!" I screamed into consciousness. Edward grabbed my shoulders and shook me.

"Alice, what did you see!?" he asked desperately. I wondered why he didn't just read my mind.

"Bella is in Arizona…or…will be. Soon I think; it was nighttime, so maybe tonight." I gasped for air when he released me. "S-she will be at the Grand Canyon with the others, blindfolded and bound." Anger consumed him as he roared. I shrank back, and I looked warily into his eyes as I continued, his moods shifting more quickly than they usually do. "The others, all but her and Aro, jumped off the edge and landed in the canyon, where, in the morning, the sunlight wouldn't expose them. Aro pushed Bella off the edge, and she just was falling and screaming, and…before that, she kept saying you would save her." He cringed. "No one even tried to catch her. She just fell."

He waited patiently for me to continue. When I did not, he prompted desperately, "And?"

"That's it. That's all I saw." I hung my head. Edward pulled us both onto our feet.

"Edward?" I asked quietly.

"Hmm?" His voice was distracted, as if I was pulling him from some train of thought.

"Why didn't you just read my mind to figure out what I saw?"

"I…I was afraid." I stared into his eyes, uncomprehending. "f you saw them kill Bella again, if I had to watch her die again…" He looked away pointedly, not continuing.

"Wait here." He let go of me, first making sure I could stand on my own, before taking off up the stairs.

He ran to each room our family was staying in. He pounded on each door so hard, each one broke into splinters. "OUT! NOW! WE'RE LEAVING!" he bellowed. They all instantly looked surprised to see Edward up and moving. Jazz smirked happily and sent feelings of gratitude only to me. I smiled meekly.

"What the **hell**, Edward? First you don't move, just lay there limply, all lame and pathetic. Then you break down all our doors and drag us out of our rooms!" Rosalie was obviously pissed. I giggled mutely, and she glowered at me. I silenced; I didn't need Rose to go off on a rant right now. It worked; she shut up.

All of us stood in silence, even Carlisle, waiting for Edward to tell us what to do.

(Emmett's Point of View)

All right! We finally get to kick some Volturi ass! I know just how I'll hit Aro, too. I'll sneak up behind him, all cool-like, and WHAM! Right in the back of the head, sending him flying off a cliff or something. And then I'll-

"Emmett." Edward's voice whipped out. I looked over to him, the excitement of picking a fight with the _Volturi_ making me hyper. Jasper was rubbing his temples, sending effortless calming waves towards me "Though I…appreciate… your excitement, I _really_ need you to calm down. You're beginning to annoy me." Jasper nodded furiously in agreement. "Or at least don't go through play-by-plays _over and over_." He rolled his eyes at me, and Alice snickered. I glowered at him, replying in my mind.

Well, Edward, if you don't want my thoughts _disturbing_ you, you might butt out of my head. It is _my mind_, so I can think whatever the hell I want!

Edward's temple throbbed angrily.

Come on, Edward. Be fair! I haven't gotten to _really_ fight someone since James! I mentally whined, and I smirked when I heard a mute, "Fine," in response.

Thank you.

I continued with my planning, now undisturbed by Edward. Ok, back to Aro and his serious ass kicking. I chuckled softly, imagining his look of shock as I threw him off the Grand Canyon. Then…hmmm…oh! Then I'd land before him, and … rip him to shreds when he landed! Yeah! That'd work. I grinned from ear to ear in anticipation.

"Nice plan, Emmett." Alice's tinkling voice was suddenly close, and she was beside me in an instant.

"YES!" I shot my fist into the air. "You mean…it will work?" She nodded twice, and I beamed. "Awesome!"

I looked to find Rosalie, and found her running by herself, of course, about three feet behind Jasper. I ran over to her, still grinning.

"Hey Rose." I pecked her briefly on the cheek. "Guess what?"

"What, Emmett?" Her voice, beautiful and sweet, was only slightly interested. I sighed in frustration.

"Alice says I'm going to get to rip Aro to pieces!" My voice was slightly higher when I finished, I was tense with anticipation.

She smiled slightly. She clapped her hands together skeptically. "Would you like a gold star?"

I laughed.

"No," I answered slyly. "But I've got to say, the last time I saw you this doubtful of me was when we were fighting James, and you know I was right there, so…some credit please."

She sighed.

"Fine. Yay Emmett. Good job!" Her voice was mocking and sarcastic, this time was accompanied with a dazzling smile.

Ye-uhs! Score, I made her smile!

My answering smile was huge. "Thank you." I pecked her cheek again, before running back to Alice.

So Edward.

And he was next to me in an instant.

"Yes?"

Remind me of the battle plan again. I forgot.

"How can you forget the battle plan? Isn't it what you were so excited about?"

Yes…but the whole kicking Aro's ass thing…it kind of distracted me.

He sighed.

"OK. So here is what we'll do. We get to Arizona, which is about…2 hours away now. So here." He handed me a bundle of clothing, all of it long sleeve. I ran off, an in an instant I was wearing it, next to Edward again. He was wearing similar clothing. Thanks to Alice, it was all fashionable, of course.

"Yes?"

"Right, so. When we get to Arizona we go to the Grand Canyon and head them off. Alice says there will be a cave we can all fit in that will hide us from their sight. So, when the Volturi arrive, we jump them, with the element of surprise, take Bella, fight them, and get the hell out of Dodge." I nodded, my smile growing broader with each word.

"Wait. Why do we leave after we fight them?"

"Because Bella would be with us then, and because by then more of the Volturi's guide will have arrived." He said it like it was an obvious fact.

"Whatever." I had lost interest by now. I ran back to Alice.

"Hey." I said it cautiously, to show that I had more to say, but that I wanted to be polite.

"Yes?" She smiled at me, implying that I should continue.

"So tell me. What are the details of when I…you know." I smiled.

"Oh. OK." She closed her eyes, remembering. "Um, you don't kill Aro, but you sure do beat the heck out of him. It is about noon, and…I'm not sure where exactly it happens. I think in a castle, maybe."

"What? You mean I don't beat him in Arizona?" Huh? My plan was to fight him there, but I guess anywhere where I would fight him was OK with me, especially if we won.

"No. But you do beat him up real good before his guard arrives."  
"Sweet." Something she said aroused a question. "What happens when his guard comes?" Whatever she thought of, it made her frown. Edward snorted. I glared at him.

"Alice?"

"Um. Rosalie pulls you off him and scolds you like…like she was your mother or something." She giggled mutely, and I threw a frantic glance at Rose. She smiled slightly, her finger wiggling almost undetectably back and forth as if to say, "tsk tsk."

At that I had to laugh.

"So Edward." I was tired of running around; the hype was wearing off. He looked up to me. "Are we almost there?" I had never been to Arizona, and was growing tired of running, frankly.

"Almost. It's up ahead there." He pointed in a Southeastern direction, and I focused my sights there. I soon detected a small sign with unique decorations declaring, "Welcome to Arizona!" I grinned, increasing my speed. I could already see, a few miles off, a tourist sign directing one towards the Grand Canyon. I stopped when I reached the freeway, looking around me. The others sopped around me, noting the same thing I did.

"It was a lot less empty at night." Alice noted. Jasper nodded.

The streets were full of people in the city below the freeway. I noticed countless signs wishing people a "Merry Christmas!" and "Happy Holidays!" I sighed.

"This," I said, "is going to be complicated."


	3. Chapter 3

(Rosalie's Point of View)

Crap. There are so many people swarming through the city. How the heck are we supposed to get to the Grand Canyon without anyone seeing us? It would be full of tourists! I whipped around, turning to face Edward.

"So," I hissed. "How did you plan to get around all these people? Where in your _oh so genius_ plan did you figure out how to avoid being seen?"

"Shut up, Rose. I'm thinking." He snapped.

"_Excuse me_?" I sneered. "Don't you tell me to shut up! The only reason I am here is because _you_ were _stupid_ enough to let the Volturi take Bella when she was _right next to you_!" I screamed at him.

He flinched, and that look of depression started creeping back onto his face. I smiled, smug.

Alice was suddenly beside me, and she started dragging me back across the border, her expression furious.

"Hey!"

"Shut up, Rosalie." She yanked harder, literally dragging me. It was an interesting sight, pixie-like her dragging the much bigger me.

Once we were out of earshot of the others, Alice let go of me, turning to glare at me.

"How _dare_ you. _How DARE you!_" She screamed at me, throwing her arms up into the air. "If he goes back into that depression, I swear, I will kick your ass into next year!!! Do you hear me, Rose?"

"Why should I play nice because he made a stupid mistake?" I shot back.

"Because you don't two people in your family to hate your very existence," she said without a moment's thought.

This time I flinched.

"Now. We go back. You apologize. You shut up about the whole ordeal back in Alaska for, like…_forever_. And we go and find some way around all these people to get to Bella. Understand?" She said, a threatening tone evident in her voice.

I held her gaze, glaring with all the force that I could manage.

After a minute of this, I turned around heading back to the others.

"Whatever, Alice." I said, my voice clearly stating this conversation would be continued at a later time.

When we got back to the others, they were kneeling in a circle, around a map of Phoenix.

I knelt beside Emmett, looking down on the map. There was a circle, drawn in a Sharpie, around the Grand Canyon, along with a circle around the area we were now. I looked up at Edward, who was closing the Sharpie.

"OK, he said." We're here now." He pointed to the circle that was where we we're at. "We will split up, taking different paths, because together we stand out too much, and meet up at the Grand Canyon again in an hour. We all understand?" He folded up the map, placing it in the pack on his back.

We all nodded.

All of us ran off in different directions. I ignored what Edward said and ran after him, catching up after a minute.

He glared at me when I caught up to him.

"Rose, I - "

"Look," I interrupted. "I just wanted to apologize for back there. I have been pissed all day, and I snapped." The first part was just a load of crap, but there was no way I'd admit that I actually felt sorry, or that Alice made me apologize…

Edward didn't even look at me.

"Look." I said quickly, my temper rising again. "You know I don't apologize much, and I just apologized to you. Either accept it…or…" I broke off. I was sure 'or screw you' wasn't something that would make him calm down.

We both stopped then, gone across the entirety of Phoenix in the matter of a few minutes. A tour guide jogged cheerfully over to us. She was a blonde girl with green eyes, and did a double take when she saw Edward. She looked suspiciously from Edward to me.

I hated when people did that. Implied that we were going out.

Ugh.

Carlisle may have only brought me into the family for him, but my heart fully belonged to Emmett.

"My _brother_ and I," I began, putting emphasis into the word 'brother.' I noticed her eyes had relief in them, thinking he was single. I almost laughed, but was way too tired of having to go through this _every time_ we went somewhere. "Would like to repel down the canyon for the day. No guidance needed." I said coolly.

"Um…sure. It's-"

"This should cover it." Edward placed a $1000 into her hand. "No change." And he smiled at her. She smiled meekly at him, before leaving. "Come on, Rose. She'll be back soon. I _do not_ want to put on that ridiculous gear."

We went over to the edge of the cliff, and looked down. In about two minutes, I saw a cave that was in the shadows about a hundred feet down. I pointed to it. Edward nodded, having seen it at the exact same moment I had.

We looked behind us, making sure no one saw us, thinking we were committing suicide. I then jumped off the edge, and the wind rushing past my face was exhilarating. It whipped past me, and I was tempted to scream, to let out my excitement, but then that would draw attention. When I noticed that I was about to miss the cave, my hand shot out, grabbing the ledge. I pulled myself up in an instant, landing in a squat. I stood up, to meet Edward's face, on the verge of laughing.

"Oh, shut up." If I could have, I probably would have blushed.

That did it.

He burst out laughing, holding his sides for support. I stood there, waiting. When he pulled himself together, I decided to get even. I ran up to him, and shoved him against the wall. He smiled mischievously before pushing me back. We wrestled for about ten minutes, before we called it a draw.

"Who says girls can't fight?" I said, panting.

"Definitely not me." He said, grinning. He was out of breath, too.

At this point I couldn't remember how I came up with the _stupid_ idea of getting dirty, but I knew that I wasn't about to get any more dirty fighting…

I hit him on the shoulder, before heading to the back of the cave, trying not to touch the walls. I dusted off my clothes, now realizing how stupid I was to chance getting my designer clothes dirty. In about half an hour, Emmett and Alice came down, having apparently arrived at the same time. Alice walked over to Edward, having landed on the cave's edge with no effort.

And Emmett. My Emmett, he missed the cave completely. I ran to the edge. When I looked down, he was at the bottom, grinning up at me with an embarrassed child-like expression. I laughed. "And you thought _my_ almost missing was funny?" I asked Edward, who had appeared next to me to watch. We both watched Emmett climb to the top, quickly, but having to start over twice (he kept choosing loose rocks to support himself). When he _finally_ reached the cave, I held out my hand, bringing him close to me. We laughed together, and settled down together at the very back of the cave. We waited there, talking for a few hours. When we ran out of things to talk about, Emmett, being totally addicted to technology, pulled out his I-phone (the original one, in fact – he bought it for over $1000), and we both listened to various tunes together.

Finally, night fell, and we all, the others having all arrived without my noticing, went to the front of the cave, before Alice held up a hand, holding a finger to her lips. She pointed to a large group of figures at the top of the canyon across from us. Edward bared his teeth as Bella's scent, floral…freesia?, reached us. Carlisle put a hand on his shoulder, and it seemed this was all that was keeping him from running up the cliff this instant. Weird, how Carlisle had so much…influence over him.

My eyes returned to the sight of Marcus, charging for Bella. He overstepped the cliff and barreled towards the bottom.

Two things then happened simultaneously. First, Alice gasped, and turned, reaching out to Edward. He wasn't paying attention. "_No, Edward_," she whispered urgently, trying to pull him away from the edge.

Secondly, as Marcus passed us, Edward let out a low growl. It took me a minute to realize he was actually talking to Marcus. Marcus' head whipped around to us, having detected our presence. He hissed, an alarm, for the others to hear.

Oh, _craaaaapppp._

(Edward's Point of View)

"_No, Edward_," Alice whispered urgently, pulling at my arm. I wasn't paying attention, though.

I was fighting with myself, trying to decide whether or not to rip Marcus to shreds or not as he passed. I decided against it. They would probably kill Bella if I killed Marcus. I did, though, let out a low growl as he passed, subconsciously, my hatred slipping out in a few hissed words, too low for anyone but him to hear.

"_Filthy scum_," I hissed. It sounded like a growl, but he heard it.

He whipped his head around, and let out a hiss of alarm.

Rosalie started shaking, either in fear of in anger, I couldn't tell. As Marcus ran up the hill to his surprised comrades, Rosalie stormed over to me, and raised her hand. She slapped me across the cheek, with all her might. I fell back, onto the ground. Alice ran to my side, along with Jasper, as I stood up, enraged.

"WHAT THE _HELL_, Rosalie!!??"

"Nice _going_, moron!" She came at me again, full of the same rage that I held.

"Don't you hit me!" We flew at each other, both at full speed, and the sound of our impact was like thunder.

I raised my fist, and smashed my hand into her face, just as she hit my stomach. We fought with each other for a full minute before the others, previously frozen in shock, reacted. Emmett was suddenly holding Rosalie, pulling her away from me, just as Jasper was restraining me. We both fought furiously against our siblings, trying to get the other.

Carlisle, before silent, now spoke up.

"ENOUGH," his voice echoed throughout the canyon, his tone full of authority.

Everyone froze to look at him.

"Edward. Rosalie. Get yourselves together! You do realize that the longer you two act like _children_, the farther away the Volturi are getting?" His voice was raised in anger, but he was trying not to full out scream at us, that much was obvious. I stopped fighting Jasper's hold, and he let me go. Emmett simply turned Rose so that he was holding her somewhat more normally. She let him hold her.

"Now. What are we going to do?" Carlisle's tone was calmer now, the relief that he was able to stop the fight evident. He was also leaving the decision making here to us.

"Alice?" Emmett turned to her, Rosalie still not looking at any of us. He held her without thinking about it.

"Give me a minute," she said, before closing her eyes, rocking back and forth on her heels, trying to concentrate. After a minute or so, she stopped moving, lost to her vision. I concentrated on her thoughts.

_"So, Aro. Where to now?" Jane's high-pitched voice chimed._

_"Hm…" Aro thought cheerfully, "I think that we should go now to the meadow. But…where is it? Hm… Edward knew the place very well, and his thoughts had told me so did Bella…so it is probably in Forks… so I guess that we are heading to Washington. Everyone hear that? To Forks!"_

_Bella, at the moment asleep in Aro's arms, stirred slightly. Aro smiled down at her._

_"Everything will be over soon. Death is on the horizon. Bella Swan, you will be la tua cantante no more."_

Alice and I growled as we were thrown from the scene. Carlisle looked to me, expecting an answer.

"We're going home. Back to Forks. Come on."

And I ran to the side of the cliff, before jumping across the entire canyon in one leap. I reached for a rock, and began climbing up the rock. Six thumps told me that the others were following me.

_I'm coming, Bella. I won't let them kill you. I swear on our love, I will save you. So help me, God._

(Jasper's Point of View)

"So Alice," I whispered, so that only she could hear.

"Hmmm?" Her volume matched mine.

"Have you seen… the vision in the meadow…anymore?"

She looked uncomfortably to Edward and then back to me. Her eyes were depressed. "Yes…. very often, actually…" she admitted.

"Oh." I wasn't sure what to say.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Jazz. I shouldn't be worrying you with this." She smiled at me, her expression apologetic.

"What? No, no. Don't apologize. You need to let this out. If you keep it bottled up… well, I can 'feel' what it is doing to you. If anyone needs to apologize, it's Aro. E is the one who started all this." I frowned when saying his name.

Alice leaned over to me in one, swift movement. She kissed my cheek, whispering, "Thanks, Jazz."

I smiled.

We both stopped then, gasping simultaneously. All of us stared, unbelieving, to the shadow before us.

No.

_No._

Not here.

_Not now._

"Miss me?" A female redheaded woman greeted us, her wild hair flying around her head in the wind.

"Victoria," Carlisle's icy voice responded. We all shifted to a defensive position.

And the redheaded vampire who we have been hunting for so long ran in at full speed, teeth bared, to fight us.


	4. Chapter 4

(Edward's Point of View)

Crap.

Not _now_.

"You have really crappy timing, you know." I told Victoria.

"I try," she responded, before taking a snap at me. I threw her against a tree, growling. She only laughed. At the sound of Carlisle's growl, I flew back, letting the others fight her. I pulled Alice back from the fight.

"I'm going ahead. After Bella." I told her, my voice grave.

Her eyes widened.

"Oh, but Edward! If you go by yourself…the vision…" I made an effort not to flinch… "oh…never mind…just be safe. OK? If I see anything… I'll come."

"Deal." I smiled grimly, before taking off towards the meadow.

I had to hurry. The meadow was still at least a half an hour's run away. I pushed my speed, inching towards top acceleration. My mind flashed back to the vision, the one where Bella and I were killed. I growled, a low sound in the back of my throat.

"I swear," I vowed. "I will not let the Volturi kill Bella. If I do, I deserve to die."

No one heard me, but I felt actually saying the vow made it more…meaningful than just thinking it.

The half hour seemed to inch by, but finally, I reached the trail that led to the meadow. I pulled a sharp turn, and increased my speed even more. I was sure there was no way I could go any faster, but I still felt like I was going slowly.

When I got to the entrance of the meadow, I was met by Marcus and Felix.

"Hello, Edward." Felix's voice was with such warmth, one would think we were lifelong friends, rather than eternal enemies.

"Where is Bella?" I demanded, the rage evident in my voice.

"Tsk tsk. Such a temper, Edward." Marcus and Felix made room for Aro to stride through, his smile pasted on his face.

"Where is Bella?" I repeated.

"Now, now. Bella is right here. See?" And he waved his arm to his right, where Bella was being restrained by Jane.

Aro gave Jane a look that I didn't understand, and then Jane sighed. Her arms released Bella, who ran over to me the instant she was free. I held her in my arms, while she cried happily into my chest.

OK. I have Bella. Now I have to get out. I listened behind me intently. I didn't hear any movement. I might not have another chance to get out. I ad to run with her now.

I grabbed Bella up into my arms in one movement, whipped around, and started running back the way I came in. I ran for a mile, grinning at my escape, before I stopped suddenly, digging my feet into the ground to stop quicker. A wall of Volturi as far to the right and the left as I could see met me.

Damn it.

"Such a disappointment. I really thought you would behave yourself better, Edward. Did you really think we would just let you get away?" Aro's voice chimed from behind me.

I held Bella recklessly close. I had her with me now. There was no way in hell I was letting her go now.

The ring of Volturi guard walked forward, closing in on us. I backed up. Crap. I had to go back to the meadow now. I had fallen right into Aro's trap. I turned around, and ran, at a slower speed, back to the meadow.

"That's better." Jane hissed. "Now, let go of the girl."

"No." My voice was stubborn, unwilling to change.

"I'm sorry. I don't think we like that answer." Jane leaned forward, preparing to leap at us. I took a defensive position. "Now let me try again. Let go of the girl."

I looked around me. There were way too many Volturi guard around here, all of them matching Jane's position. They were making it clear: Let go of Bella or get slaughtered. I didn't care what they did to me; it was my fault we were in this position anyways. But I wanted to keep Bella safe, even if it only meant being alive a little longer.

I looked down at Bella, whose expression was horrified. No. I couldn't put her in any more danger than was necessary. I sighed, and mouthed, 'I'm sorry, my love.' Her eyes widened, and it killed me. If only she understood how much better it would be if we cooperated. Even if that better meant living a few minutes more…

I placed her back down on the ground, and turned her around. One more thing… I kissed her, forgetting my careful wall. She kissed me back, and when she got dizzy, I pulled away, and took a step back. In an instant, Marcus was behind her. He placed a hand on her shoulder, and she jumped.

"That's better." Jane hissed, her smile sending chills down my spine. I refused to show signs of weakness, though. I would _not_ give her that pleasure.

I tried to keep my eyes away from Jane. If our eyes met, she would able to use her ability on me. I looked back to Bella, who was now restrained to the tree, just like in the vision. No…

I took a step towards her, to help her. Suddenly, Marcus was behind me, laughing softly. "You _really_ don't want to do that."

I fought against Marcus's hold, loosening it. But then Felix was behind me too. And I could not fight off the both of them. They turned me to the right, struggling to make me move at all. "Stupid animal drinker. _Move_!" Felix hissed.

I looked up to where they were moving me. That was the wrong thing to do. I looked up, right into Jane's blood red eyes. She was grinning at me, and suddenly pain rippled through my body. I couldn't feel my legs anymore. Marcus and Felix grunted as they dragged me over to the tree. I started to crawl away, though. (Crawling was all that I could do at this point.) So Marcus pulled out a thin chain. He tied it around me, chaining me to the tree. I tried to break the chains, but was in too much pain to move. Jane leaned back against a nearby tree, smiling evilly at me. A larger wave of pain fell over me, and it was all I could do not to scream. I looked over to Bella, still concerned about her.

"No. No. This can't be happening." She was looking ahead of her, toward the approaching shadow with black eyes.

No. _No._ The vision…it was coming true! I tried to fight against the chains again, but was only greeted with a sharper wave of increasing pain. I looked back to Bella, who was looking at Aro, horrified.

His eyes were midnight black. He was starving, and she had unnaturally delicious blood. And don't even start about her delicious scent…

He stalked forward. No. Bella!

"_Bella_," I called out weakly. She looked over to me, seeming more worried about my situation. Silly Bella. She should be worried about herself right now! A small growl from Aro brought her attention back to her present situation.

Aro leaned over to her, brushing her hair away from her neck. He leaned over to her, and bared his unusually sharp teeth, which were dripping with venom. He bit into her neck, and her scream rang out through the forest.

He did not pull away. He was draining her. After a few minutes of this, he pulled away. Bella looked over to me, whispering, "I love you, Edward." Then her head slumped onto her shoulders.

"_No…Bella,_" I called out, still weakly, before the pain was too much. That combined with the pain of Bella dying right before me was just too much. My vision was lost as I passed out, Jane's laughter echoing throughout my head.


	5. Chapter 5

(Alice's Point of View)

_"No…Bella," he called out, very weakly, before an anguished look crossed his face. He passed out, and Jane's laughter echoed throughout the forest._

"No!" I jumped up from my couch in my room. Jazz was in an instant at my side. I whipped around, and began to cry into Jazz's arms.

After a minute of this, Jasper pulled back, to look me in the face.

"Alice," he said softly. "What did you see? Why isn't Edward back yet? Is it about Edward?" His questions, which, by the sound of it, he had been barely holding back, now came flowing out.

I nodded. He sat me down beside him on our couch, and looked to me, his eyes pleading with me to explain. I took a deep breath to try to calm myself.

"Edward and Bella…in the meadow…it happened." I looked away pointedly, trying to hold back the wave of emotion that was threatening to explode from within me. Jasper, sensing this, held me closer, trying to comfort me. When I looked up, Rosalie and Emmett were on the ground, sitting cross-legged, neither of them looking in the same direction, but both of their faces with an identical expression: grief. We all sat there for... I'm not sure how long… it could have been ages…. before I froze. Everyone looked at me.

No. I don't want to see Edward's death again. I fought against the vision, trying to avoid falling into it, with no luck. As my sight clouded over, I gave in to the feeling, ready for the grief…

_I was back in the meadow, right in front of Bella's body. I cried out, knowing no one could hear me. But then… I noticed something. Her eyes flickered._

_What?_

_Bella opened her eyes, and I yelped at what I saw._

_Blood red eyes looking right back at me._

_It couldn't be…_

_Was it possible? Aro hadn't completely drained her? And that meant that in three days… Bella would be…a vampire._

"Oh. My. God!'" I shrieked. "Oh my god! Oh my god!!"

"What?" They all asked simultaneously.

"Bella." I said, slowly, excitedly, still having trouble believing it myself.

"What's wrong?" Emmett asked.

"I don't think it's wrong." Jasper responded. "She's…bursting with happiness…" He looked at me like I was insane.

"No, no! You guys! Bella is alive!"

"I don't understand…" Rosalie said quietly. "What happened to the whole 'she's dead' thing?"

"When Aro drained her, he didn't drain her completely! She is right now… turning!" I finished, my voice high with excitement.

I didn't wait for their responses. Before any of them could even open their mouths, I was down the stair and out the door, heading to Edward's meadow. In a few seconds, I heard the sounds of traveling behind me. I looked to my right, and saw Jasper's face. He looked like he was conflicted between whether or not to hope. I smiled encouragingly.

"Trust me. She's alive." I grinned at him.

"Ok. I believe you. I just hope that we get there before she wakes up."

We turned onto the path then, and started down the way to the meadow. When I finally got to the meadow, I stopped dead in my tracks.

The place was beautiful. But it had lost its magic. The flowers were strewn across the ground, and there was blood by a tree a few feet away. There was chains around one tree, and ropes around the one with blood. The only thing missing was…Bella. Where was Bella?

"Well, Alice?" Rosalie's impatient voice chimed. "Where is Bella?"

"She should be right here… where is she?"

I walked up to the tree, and was hit by an overpowering scent. The scent of it was so strong that it almost completely covered up the scent of Bella's blood. It was unmistakable; I would know it anywhere by now, and the scent caused me to bare my teeth, and let out a threatening, low growl.

Wet Dog.

"The werewolves took her," I said through my teeth.

I heard three growls, all of them like mine.

"Where are they?" Jasper asked.

"I don't know. But we have to find her soon. Edward only has a week before the Volturi will get back to Volterra."

(Jacob's Point of View)

I heard Bella's scream. It was off the trail, about five or six miles. Without a thought, I ran at full speed towards the direction I heard it from. I stopped when a overbearingly sweet scent hit me.

No.

Sam stopped next to me. "Jacob." He said, a tone of authority in his voice.

"It's _them_. The Volturi." My voice was disbelieving and full of grief.

"We should wait until they leave before seeing if she is okay, then."

So I settled in the trees, out of sight, but where I could still see the path. After about twenty minutes, I heard a laugh that sent shivers down my spine.

I could feel the anger bubbling up in me, threatening to explode. Sam only had to look at me for me to know that I would only hurt Bella by attacking the Volturi now. So I waited. And waited.

About five minutes later, I saw a group of vampires walking down the path. None of them seemed to notice us, which was odd. That was when I noticed something that shocked me so much, it almost gave away my hiding position.

A small woman in the front was carrying another vampire over her shoulder.

It was Edward Cullen.

He was passed out, and the woman did not look like she had good intentions for him.

What on _Earth_ went on back there?

The instant they were out of sight, I ran at full speed towards where a horrible smell met me.

It was then I saw Bella, tied with rope, against a tree. There was blood around her, and she looked…_no_.

"Bella?" My voice cracked, and I ran to her side, untying her ropes. "Bells? Oh, please answer me Bella. Please, please, _please_."

Sam walked up to me, and put a hand on my shoulder. I moved aside, and he checked her over.

"Weird."

"What?" My voice shot up an octave.

"I can't find an injury… she seems unscathed."

"What? That's not possible. Where would all this blood have come from? It _is_ hers…" I broke off, suddenly realizing something that I never thought I would have to face…

"Ch-check her neck…" My voice was small, horrified.

"What?" Sam's voice was confused.

"Her neck…check it for…an injury…"

He brushed back her hair, exposing two identical holes that led right to a main vein.

"No…. no, Bella…."

"Wait a minute, Jacob." He placed two fingers to her neck, checking her pulse. His eyes widened.

"_What_?" I couldn't take any more bad news…

"She's still alive."

The thought didn't seem to compute.

"What?

"She's not dead, Jacob."

"Oh my god, Bella! You need…care…you need a hospital!" I grabbed her, cradling her in my arms. "But…" It was only then that I remembered that two months ago, I went to Bella's funeral… so that meant that … the Cullens staged her death scene. And that when I met Esme on LaPush property… she has just finished making the crime scene…

"We can't take her to a hospital around here… she is supposed to be dead… it would kill Charlie to see her alive, especially since she is so close to…death."

"Ok. We'll take her a LaPush hospital." And Sam was heading off towards LaPush. I ran after him, holding Bella in my arms.

Bella was still screaming. She had been for the last two days. Why? She wouldn't open her eyes, or…respond to anything. All she did was scream. We had her in an emergency care ward, a private room, so no one else could disturb her.

I sat in the chair next to her, holding her hand between both of my unnaturally warm ones. There I waited, sometimes falling asleep for short time periods. But I never left her side for three days.

On the fourth day, she stopped screaming. She gasped, and sat up so quickly, I almost missed the movement.

The first thing I noticed about her was her funny smell. She still had her floral smell, but it had a sweet edge to it. I couldn't place it at the moment, though…

"Bells!" I jumped up.

Her head turned to me, and I started. She was gorgeous. But her eyes…they were _blood red_…

"Jake?" Her voice had a melodic edge to it.

"Oh, Bella! I'm so glad you're alive!" I embraced her in a tight hug, and smelled the unbearably sweet scent in a more concentrated form.

When she pulled away, her nose was wrinkled.

"What?" My voice was defensive.

"You stink."

"You don't smell too nice yourself."

"Oh my God. Edward!" She jumped up, and ran to the door. I ran up to her and caught her wrist. She shipped around to face me.

"I saw him before I found you… a really tiny vampire was…well…he was over her shoulder. He was passed out…" Her expression was horrified. "Bells, what happened back there?"

"She opened the door, speaking almost too quickly for me to hear. "Edward told the Volturi last spring break that he would turn me, but he didn't so the Volturi came to kill us. The Volturi kidnapped me, and Edward ran around Phoenix and Washington and Alaska, chasing them to get me back. Then, in the meadow back there, Aro bit me, and Jane…the female vampire…used her power…torturing people mentally… on Edward… that's all I remember before I passed out. Edward must have passed out too and that means… oh NO! I have to get to Volterra!!"

She started to step outside, when her eyes were suddenly wild with restraint, and she shut the door with such force that the doorknob broke right off the door.

"Oops…" She looked guiltily at the knob in her hand ad back to the broken door.

"What's wrong, Bella?"

"I…I don't know how I can get out of here…" she admitted.

Then everything that my mind had been slowly piecing together, like a puzzle, fit into place, the puzzle complete.

"The blood of all those people…" My voice was quiet, my mind rejecting the truth that would forever push be away from my best friend.

"Yes," she admitted in a small voice.

"Well…um…you could stay here," I suggested.

She threw me a frantic look.

"No. I can't. If I do nothing, Jane will _kill him_!" she shrieked. "She. Will._ Burn_. Him!" I waited for the tears to come, as they always do when she talked like this. Nothing.

"Bella." I said, trying to calm her down. "Bells. You couldn't even step out the door. How do you expect to get all the way to Italy?"

I blinked, and she was gone. I whirled in a circle, and found her by her bed, picking up a large, white hospital phone. She dialed a number too fast for me to see, and I walked over to her, sitting beside her.

"It's Bella…Yes I'm alive…. Jake …" It was really annoying, only hearing one end. And of course it was the end that only answered in one or two word phrases. "I know… have you? ... Oh… well…um…" She looked over to me now. "Where are we, Jake?"

"The LaPush hospital."

"LaPush…Yes, that's a problem…yes, I've tried leaving on my own… yeah, it's really powerful… so, what do we do? ... oh, you can't do that! … not in LaPush! … ok, I'm in Room 12B…oh my God, that's twelve stories up!... really? Oh, that's right… ok, I'll be waiting… _hurry_… bye." And she hung up.

"Bells? Who was that?"

"Alice."

"She's coming? She can't come here!"

"Technically, Jake. I can't be here either. Edward proposed to me, and we're going to get married. I'm a Cullen now."

"Oh."

"So… she's going to come right outside the hospital, and I'm going to jump out the window, and we'll leave."

"JUMP OUT THE WINDOW!?!?!?"

"Mhm. I won't get hurt." Her voice was confident. "Oh, here she is. Bye, Jake."

And she leaned over to kiss me on the cheek, before throwing her window open. She climbed up to the ledge, and jumped out. I ran to the window, and looked down, fearing for her life. All I saw was her waving from the car as she and Alice drove away, too fast, into the forest.

"Be safe, Bella." I whispered.

(Alice's Point of View)

Tick.

The clock was getting quite annoying by now. I had been sitting here all day.

Tick.

Think, Alice, think! Where in LaPush would the dogs take Bella? We couldn't just walk in there without knowing where she was… Sam would come after us…

Tick.

OK, try to concentrate. I need to 'see' where she is.

Tick.

Concentrate.

Tick.

Concentrate…

_Buzz!_

I yelped, and looked down at my cell phone, which was dancing on the table in front of me. I leaned forward on the couch as I answered. Who could be calling me?

"Hello?"

"It's Bella."

"Oh my god! You're alive!"

"Yes, I'm alive."

"Who took you, Bella? Which one of those-"

"Jake." Her tone was possessive, as if she were defending him. I sighed. At this point, they were as far mortal enemies as possible, and she still insisted on being friends with him…

"Bella, we don't have time to waste. Edward-"

"Yes, I know…have you?"

I sighed. "No."

"OK. So where are you?"

Mumbling. She didn't know. I'm not sure why, but this bugged me to no end. Shouldn't she know where she was?

"The LaPush hospital."

"OK. You know where we are. Have you tried leaving?"

"Yes, I've tried leaving on my own."

"You can't?"

"What should we do?"

"I'll just drive _real_ fast and come over and get you then. Maybe I'll have to steal a car that is fast enough to do it though…"

"Oh, you can't do that! Not in LaPush!"

"Fine I'll take my own car…What room are you in?"

"12B."

"OK. I'll be right there. You just have to jump out you're window, and-"

"God! That's twelve stories!"

"You won't get hurt, Bella. Remember?" I felt like I was wasting time. Edward didn't have long.

"Oh…that's right."

"OK I'm coming. Just don't get into trouble, ok?"

"OK…_hurry_."

"I will, Bella."

"Bye."

"See you soon."

As soon as I hung up, I was running out to my car, at full speed.

"I'll see you guys at the airport in half an hour, ok? I'll meet you there with Bella. Bye." I didn't speak higher than I would if they were right next to me. I knew they would hear.

I yanked my Turbo 911 into reverse. The bright yellow paint stood out against my sibling's other cars. The car itself made me depressed. Some thing must be wrong with me. The car reminded me of the last time I went to Italy, also trying to save Edward. I hope he didn't make this a habit…

In about three minutes, I was outside the hospital. I looked up to Bella, who waved to me. My god, she was gorgeous!!!

She looked down, uncomfortable.

"Come on, Bella. You can't still be scared." I mumbled, at a speed too quick for any human to even have the slightest chance of hearing.

"Shut up. I'm coming."

I sighed.

"I'll catch you. Come on…" I held my arms up.

She seemed content with that, and jumped. The look of exhilaration on her face made me jealous. I wish I had the time to jump like that, feel the wind on my face. A millisecond later, she was in my arms. She hopped into the passenger seat, and I started the car. I drove the car at 200mph.

She looked over to me. I did a double take when I saw the look of boredom on her face. "Can't this go any faster? It's so…slow…"

I laughed. "Of course it can." And I pressed the pedal down more, pushing 300mph now.

I saw Jacob staring out his window out of the corner of my eye. His face was hurt and depressed. I glanced at Bella, and saw that she didn't miss it either. I gave her a reassuring look.

"Be safe, Bella." Jacob's voice made her look away, embarrassed. I nearly hit a tree because I was laughing so hard. But then I swerved back onto the road and within ten minutes, was at the airport.

"OK, Bella." We were both running, barely at human paces, to the airport entrance. "Edward has three days until he dies." She flinched. "Sorry. Anyways, that's not much time. We _really_ have to hurry. OK?"

She nodded.

"But."

"There's always a 'but', isn't there?"

I smiled.

"Apparently. Anyways, it will probably take two days just to figure out how to _break into_ the Volterra castle. So once we get in there, everything will come down to you. OK?"

She smiled grimly.

"It's _always_ me." She mumbled.

I laughed once.

"Whether or not that's true… you need to realize one thing: Everything is depending on you here, Bella."

She looked over to me, her face immensely worried, then looked away quickly, trying to hide her panic.

"No pressure," she mumbled.


	6. Chapter 6

(Bella's Point of View)

It's always me…

"No pressure," I mumbled.

A wave of calming spread over to me, and I smiled at Jasper, who smiled in return. I needed calm. I was getting way too panicked anyways…

Thanks Jasper, I thought, though I knew he couldn't hear me.

He gasped suddenly. We all whipped around to stare at him.

Jasper stared at me with…I couldn't identify it…curiosity? ... in his eyes.

"Jazz?" Alice said slowly.

"Whoah." He spoke slowly, as if whatever was in his head was too crazy for him to accept.

"Jasper?" Emmett said slowly.

Jasper didn't even look at him. He just kept staring at me with curious eyes.

I couldn't take it anymore.

"What," I hissed.

"You thanked me."

Rosalie looked at him like he was insane. "Gee, Jasper. You helped Bella, and she said thank you. Imagine that." Her voice was dripping with sarcasm. Emmett snorted.

"No, no. She thanked me but… she didn't speak. The words were… in my head."

No one said anything.

Carlisle chose now to speak. "Bella. Try to say something to Jasper again. Without speaking to him."

Everyone was looking at me now. OK… it's worth a try…

I looked at Jasper, willing my thoughts to travel into him.

Um…testing? OK, it was lame, but I didn't know what to say. I just hope it worked.

Jasper snorted. I looked away, embarrassed.

"What?" Emmett whined. "What did she say?"

Jasper just shook his head, still grinning. Emmett looked like someone ran over his puppy.

You don't always have to be in on the jokes, Emmett. I scolded.

He looked over to me, his expression amazed for a moment, before grinning. "I know, but I like to be in the loop."

Well, prepare to be disappointed.

He burst out laughing.

Rosalie glared at him. I smiled.

Carlisle cleared his throat. "Well. Now we know Bella has an ability… but right now we do not have time to discover the full extent of it. We have plans." The last word had hidden implications that anyone who was listening in on our conversation would not understand. Only we knew the dark meaning behind the words. Plans: saving a life, breaking vampire law, racing against the clock…

The usual.

"OK," Esme broke the awkward silence that followed his words. "Let's get a move on then. We don't have time to catch the next plane."

And with that, we all headed for the terminal.

On the plane, I got to sit by Alice. Jasper, unfortunately for him, had to sit next to some old, fat guy who was snoring loudly the instant within five minutes of takeoff. He looked like he wanted to die.

Dear God, kill me now! Why couldn't I have sat next to Alice?

I yelped when Jasper's thoughts entered my head. "Whoah."

Jasper and Alice, and probably the others but I couldn't see them, turned to stare at me.

Jasper…think something again…

Jasper looked at me for a moment, confused.

"Just do it," I hissed.

What is she thinking? Can she read minds too??

Apparently.

Awesome.

I laughed, and Jasper smiled. The others looked at the two of us, expecting one of us to explain.

"It appears," I said slowly, trying to explain to the others without sounding insane to anyone else on the plane (I didn't like speaking at speeds faster than human speed), "that our previous discovery has a second part. It is also like Edward's gift." There. That sounded innocent enough.

"Can you control it?" Carlisle asked. I held up a finger, testing. I didn't hear any thoughts. Then I concentrated on Emmett.

Um… what are we doing? Can she or can't she control it? His thoughts were confused.

I nodded. "Looks like I found an actual off switch when Edward couldn't." I grinned.

Whatever… she's just a copycat then…a carbon copy of Edward, just like…a new model…bonus features…whatever… Rosalie's thoughts were easy to distinguish from the other's ecstatic ones. My smile vanished.

We were all silent for the next hour, so I was basically testing my power reading the minds of various people. When I was reading Alice's, her thoughts startled me.

I wonder… She was looking right at me, so she was obviously 'talking' to me.

Alice?

Bella…I wonder if you can see images, like Edward can…

One way to find out … umm…. Think of an image that I wouldn't be able to think of on my own… something…original…

A very explicit image of Jasper was suddenly in my head.

"Ugh!" I pulled away from her mind in an instant. "Alice!" I hissed.

"You said something original…that you wouldn't think of on your own…" She said in her defense.

"Well, that, as …original as that may have been, was waaay more of him than I ever wanted to see…"

Jasper was suddenly stock-still. She didn't…oh, Bella tell me she didn't…

He turned to look over at us, curious and nervous. When Alice wouldn't meet his gaze, his eyes widened. He looked over to me, and I looked away quickly. He sank down in his seat several inches, mortified.

Bella? What's going on? Carlisle's voice was curious. There was also concern due to the way Jasper was acting.

I can see images that people are thinking about, too…Alice and I were just…testing it…

Emmett looked at Jasper, than me. What is going on between you two? You're only allowed to be funny around me, remember? He smiled.

Oh, forgive me. My 'voice' was full of sarcasm.

He laughed then. Rosalie glared at him again, before turning up her I-pod, tuning out the world with a popular rock band. I rolled my eyes.

The rest of the flight passed slowly. I was getting so anxious. Edward didn't have much time. Only three days… yes, it's more than last time, but still not much time… I sighed, and began bouncing up and down in my seat.

Alice eventually lost patience, and her hand whipped out and grabbed my shoulder, holding me in place. If you can't behave and calm down, we won't take you Edward-saving anymore. She smiled.

I held my hand over my mouth to keep from bursting with laughter. But I kept still, staring around the plane, testing my new vision and hearing. I heard Rosalie's I-pod three rows behind me, even though it was at a low volume. I could hear the pilot talking to the co-pilot at the front of the plane. I could see the gum stuck to the bottom of the seat ten rows in front of me…ew… After the gum, I stopped exploring the plane, deciding that if I quit now, there was no chance I would find any more things to freak me out.

Finally. Finally, the plane landed. The instant that the doors opened, I jumped up, ready to burst with anxiety. I had been holding it in since Alice 'threatened me.'

The others waited until the others got off the plane before they headed for the front. When we actually got off the plane, though, we traveled at what would be sprinting at a human pace towards the exit.

"I wonder if I could find that car again," Alice murmured.

"We don't need a car," Rose said. "We can run."

We all thought that was fine, so we ran at full speed towards Volterra, my dead heart pounding in my chest. Oh God, please let us make it in time!

(Jasper's Point of View)

Finally, finally, we got to the main road that led to Volterra. We slowed down to a walk. Then we stopped. We were both reading the sign about two hundred feet in front of us: Entry only by car.

Great. Now we had to steal a car again…

Alice was gone in a flash. The rest of us just sat on the ground, waiting.

I was lost in thought, when the silence was broken.

"Jasper?" Bella said quietly.

I opened my mouth, but closed it immediately. I realized then that Bella hadn't spoken. It was in my head.

This was going to be interesting to get used to…

Yes?

How…she started nervously.

Yes? I repeated.

How…how do you break into Volterra?

Well, the entire procedure is very difficult. First, you have to get to the entrance without the guard noticing. Then you have to actually get in. We do have worries, though. If they catch us, they will probably… no, there's no probably about it…

Kill us?

Yeah…

Bella looked away, trying to hide the fear I 'felt' from her. I sent a feeling of confidence towards her.

Thanks…

No problem. I smiled.

The feeing of confidence was already gone. She was full of worry, worry and fear. I sighed. She glanced at me apologetically.

Sorry. I shouldn't be bothering you with this.

You are entitled to your feelings, Bella. You don't need to apologize.

She smiled.

Bella yelped then, falling over to one side. She covered her ears, though there were no sounds. We all stared at her, concerned. Carlisle was next to her in a flash, kneeling beside her, his face etched in worry.

"Bella?" he said softly.

She didn't respond, only covering her ears. She scrunched her eyebrows together, her temple throbbing. What was wrong with Bella?  
Bella? Bella, what's wrong?

Too many voices… make all the voices go away.

My eyebrows rose. Carlisle looked at me.

"She says… 'too many voices… make the voices go away…'" I told him.

"Hey," Emmett complained. "Why won't she answer my thoughts?"

Rose hit him. "Don't be selfish."

"Carlisle?" There was something odd about his face. He was emanating worry like crazy.

"Those were Edward's exact words…" he said, a hundred years away in thought.

"What?" Rosalie asked, confused.

"That is… exactly… what Edward said…before he learned to tune out the thoughts… So that means…"

"She lost control of her powers…" Emmett finished for him.

Bella was still on the ground, clutching her head, gritting her teeth.

"So…" I said. "What do we do?"

"Think as little as possible… that's all we can do. The rest she has to do." Carlisle replied in a vice that clearly stated he wished he had a different answer.

So we sat back down. I sat down next to Bella, sending off constant waves of calm, peace, whatever I could think of to try to help. Maybe the others couldn't help, but I could. Or at least I could try…

(Jane's Point of View)

God. This was taking so long…why did we have to wait? Why couldn't we just kill Edward now? I mean…yeah, he wasn't unconscious anymore, but he was locked up good, no chance of escaping.

There was only one person who I could go to if I wanted to get my way.

Aro.

"Oh, Aro?" I sang, pouring sweetness into my voice. He always loved that.

"Jane," he said happily. "What is it? Do you have a question?"

"Why can't we kill him now?" He knew who I was talking about.

"Jane, dear. It's only two more days. You can wait two day, right? Then you can do what you wish. But first," he said with a mischievous smile, "I want to have some fun."

"OK," I replied, my tone light and delighted, smiling an angelic smile. He beamed at me.

Fine. I could wait that long.

Two days. Two days, and then I could kill him. I could kill Edward Cullen.

I can't wait.

(Alice's Point of View)

I found it! The car from last time! Ye-uhs! I shot my fist into the air. Looking around me, I walked up to the car. Before I took this, I needed to make sure no one saw me. I looked to the left. Empty. Right. Empty. Everywhere was empty. No one was here.

Excellent.

I reached for the handle, grinning. I pulled it open in a flash, reaching into the car and disconnecting the alarm before the alarm could go off. Man, I loved doing that. The thrill, the knowing that, one mistake and I was screwed. It was thrilling, invigorating.

I jumped into the car, hotwiring it so it would turn on. I sped down the path I came from, pushing 300mph. In about five minutes, I would be back to the others.

While I was driving, my body froze up. Oh, crap. I yanked the car over to the side of the rode, pulling it into park in one fluid motion. Not even a second later, I was lost to the vision.

I was back with the others. Nothing was going on. What the hell? What was the point of this vision. I noticed Bella's face was suddenly full of fear. Jasper looked towards her, concerned. They must be having some private conversation…

OK, why the hell am I seeing this? Most visions have a point, and this one almost made me crash the car… it had better get interesting soon…

Suddenly Bella yelped and fell over, clutching her head. She was twitching, and the others couldn't do anything. She had lost control of her powers… oh no…

I gasped, and was ejected from the vision.

"Crap, Bella!" I threw the car into drive, going right into fifth gear. It screeched horribly and flew down the road at a speed near what I run at. Even with terror spreading through me, I was impressed. Most cars couldn't go this fast. I was glad I had one.

In about a minute, I saw Jasper and the others, all of their expressions horrified. And Bella, twitching on the ground.

I screeched onto the dirt road. I jumped out and ran to Jasper.

"Jasper? How long has she been like this?"

"About five minutes…"

Bella?

Alice?

Yeah…Bella… I couldn't think of what to say…

How long?

What? How long what?

How long until Edward…

She can't be serious. She is in pain, unable physically speak or anything…and she is worried about Edward. It's so sweet… I knew that if I were human, right about now the tears would come… I smiled slightly.

Two days, Bella. Now… are you ok?

Yeah, thanks… whoah… it's…gone…

Bella?

And she sat up, her brilliant crimson-red eyes staring right back at me. I jumped.

"Bella." Carlisle was at her side in an instant, holding out a hand to help her up.

"I'm fine…" She murmured, embarrassed. She wasn't the type of person who was comfortable when people got emotional…

"Are you sure?" Jasper asked, his voice soft. I smiled. I was glad he wasn't so distant with her anymore. It seems that they are almost as close as her and Emmett now… like a brother to her.

"Yeah. Thanks…" Only then did she notice the car…

"Oh, Alice! You didn't!" Her face was shocked. "You can't steal the same car twice!!"

"But I like this car," I said defensively.

"You stole this car before?" Jasper asked.

"Yes…" I admitted. "It's awesome. Real fast." A small grin crept its way onto my face.

"Stands out." Bella added.

"We don't have time to argue," Carlisle said softly, but with authority. "Let's just go."

I smiled and walked, at a human pace, to the Turbo 911. I got in the front seat. Bella stepped gracefully (I was still amazed that she wasn't klutzy anymore) into the passenger seat. Jazz got in the back seat. No one else moved. Bella looked out of the car, confused. Carlisle and Esme smiled slightly. Rose kept her constant sneer, while Emmett remained at her side, unwilling to leave her.

"We'll catch up with you later," Carlisle said. "We can't all fit in the car."

Bella simply turned back towards the front of the car. I revved the engine, and the others stepped back. I took off down the trail, heading towards the twisting hill that led to the city of the Volturi.

We were in line to get into the city, when I frowned. The line was really long, and there were red flags on top of the cars. Could it really be St. Marcus Day again? Great. Now I will have to sweet talk a guard again… ugh… and Jasper will be here…

Alice? Bella said, her 'voice' small.

What Bella?

Um… just thought I'd let you know… the guard is a female…

What? I sighed. Now how can we get in if only private tours are allowed? Unless… I shook my head, not even sure how to ask what I wanted.

I pulled over, so I was on the side of the road. The car that was behind me sped up so the spot I was in was taken.

"What?" Jasper asked, confused.

OK…how do I ask this? I brought my fingertips to my temple, thinking. How do I ask this? Um…

"OK," Jasper said suddenly, making me jump.

"Er, what?" I asked, caught off guard. OK, what?

"OK. I'll do it," he clarified.

I looked at him, confused, before turning to glare at Bella.

Guilty… She smiled meekly at me.

I sighed, before opening up my door. A small click let me know Jasper opened his too. I went to the back, and Jazz slipped into the front seat. We closed our doors simultaneously. Jasper waited for a miniscule opening, before taking advantage of it and forcing himself into the space. I smiled. He might just drive more…well, in Bella's words, crazily…than I do.

Once we got up to the guard shack, Jazz rolled down his shaded window. The guard was a very pretty blond lady, in her late twenties, with startlingly blue eyes. She did a double-take when she saw Jasper. I concentrated very hard on a small spot on the seat next to me. Bella looked back at me.

You know, I'm pretty sure if you keep staring at it like that, pretty soon you'll burn a hole through the seat…

Shut up. My husband is flirting with someone, and I would prefer not to pay attention to that…

She smiled, biting her lip to stop from laughing. I half-glared at her.

Then, the lady stepped back, smiling a flirty smile. The bar in front of the car lifted, and Jasper pulled the car forward. We drove, at a normal speed, past the walls and into the city.

(Jasper's Point of View)

"What?" I asked, confused. Alice was nervous about something.

She didn't say anything. So I waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Nothing.

Bella, a little hint, please.

I don't know… she is still trying to figure out how to ask you…

Please, Bella. She is going to ask me anyways. And we both know how nervous she is about asking whatever it is…

Alright… she was planning on doing the same thing as last time with the guard…you know…

Dazzling him?

Yeah… but now… it's a female…so…

She wants me to.

You don't sound surprised.

All I'm surprised about is that she is so nervous about asking me.

Well, you are her husband.

Good point. Well, I'll save her the trouble…

"OK," I said, startling her.

"Er, what?"

"OK," I repeated. "I'll do it."

She just stared at me, momentarily confused. My eyes flashed for a millisecond to Bella, before turning back to her. She whipped around to glare at her. Bella smiled guiltily back at Alice. Alice sighed, before opening up her door, before I opened mine too. She went to the back, and I slipped into the front seat. We closed our doors simultaneously. I only waited for a miniscule opening, before taking advantage of it and forcing myself into the space. Alice smiled.

Once we got up to the guard shack, I rolled down the shaded window. The guard was a blond lady, in her late twenties, maybe, with blue eyes. She did a double-take when she saw me. I tried very hard not to roll my eyes.

Alice suddenly became very interested in a spot on the seat next to her. I brought my attention back to the guard, dazzling her with a smile. She brought in a tiny breath, and her cheeks reddened very noticeably. I brought in a muted breath of my own.

"I-I'm sorry, sir," she stuttered. I noticed shame coming from her; she obviously wished she didn't have to say what she was saying. "Only tours are allowed today."

"Well," I said, "we can just consider this a private tour, can't we?"

For a moment, she looked stunned.

"Um," she muttered, distracted. "Um, I'm sorry, but-"

"Please?" I said softly, sending her another dazzling smile.

"O-ok…" She stepped back, smiling flirtatiously. I smiled when I sensed the anger nearly exploding from Alice. The guard's smile broadened, thinking I was smiling back at her. The bar in front of us lifted slowly, and I drove forward at a normal pace, into the city.


	7. Chapter 7

(Carlisle's Point of View)

Volterra. So much has changed over the years, and yet so much is the same. The tall, graceful, timeless buildings, the large fountain in the center of town; so many memories. But I didn't have time to relive the past. We had work to do.

I heard a quiet revving of an engine from my location safe from the sun. I looked up, spotting Jasper driving the Turbo past the gates. I was surprised to see him in the driver's seat; I was sure Alice would never have willingly allowed someone else to drive. It was then that I noticed her glaring at the female guard, along with Jasper's slightly frustrated expression. Ah. So that was it…

For a moment, I lost sight of them in the sea of red. But then, they were striding towards us, working to keep to the shadows without being conspicuous. Occasionally, they would dart across streams of sunlight, causing momentary flashes of light. The humans would look over, having seen something flashing out of the corner of their eye, but by the time that they looked over, nothing was there to cause the flash anymore. This all happened within a few seconds, and it didn't take long before they stopped, only four feet away.

Emmett didn't waste any time in making a joke about Jasper's flirting with the guards. Alice and Bella glared furiously at him, while Jasper's response was a little more physical; Emmett was soon rubbing his shoulder, frowning. Rosalie proceeded to glare at Jasper, while Esme frowned disapprovingly.

I smiled slightly, shaking my head. Not one person looking in at us would suspect us as something other than an average family. Not one person would suspect that we were not here simply to enjoy the celebration, as they were. Not one person would suspect that, if we did not hurry, someone would die. My smile vanished with that last thought, and I cleared my throat quietly, ending the nonverbal conversation.

We couldn't talk openly about our plans; someone would hear. And we couldn't simply speak too quickly or too low for the humans to hear; there were Volturi guards here, and _they_ would hear. So, we had to have our conversation the long way: through Bella.

I looked at Bella pointedly so that she would focus on my thoughts.

_Bella?_

_Yes, Carlisle?_

_I'm sorry to ask this of you, but could you relay for us? We can't openly speak because the guards will hear, so the only way I can think of to communicate would be through you._

_Of course, Carlisle._

I smiled slightly.

_Would you ask Alice if anything about the vision has changed?_

She nodded and turned to Alice, who nodded.

_What changed? _I asked.

Bella held up one finger, seeing the vision, complete with its new twists. Bella continued to frown as the vision went on, before she looked back to me.

_Edward has woken up. He's in Jane's room right now, but he's not restrained or anything… Aro is making Jane wait out the remaining time, but I've no idea why. Jane is still going to … burn him… if we don't succeed._

My eyes flickered over to Jasper momentarily. He was the fastest of us here. _Ask Jasper to see if there is some way we can get in without a full on confrontation._

Bella looked over to Jasper for a minute, and then Jasper nodded and ran off, dodging the people and sunlight, a barely visible streak of white. A minute later, he came back. Bella and I both looked at him expectantly.

_Jasper says… that the place is really well guarded, but there is a small chance that we will be able to sneak through from the Southern entrance, the one that takes the underground._

_Thank you, Bella. Tell the others and we can all head over there._ She nodded, and after a minute, five pairs of eyes flashed to me and away. Bella was looking at Jasper, probably asking him something.

I nodded, and we ran through the city, dodging the people in the sea of red. I very nearly ran into a small child who had plastic fangs in her mouth when I was dodging a mother carrying a three-year-old boy. I sighed. Weaving through this crowd was going to be difficult.

_Carlisle_. Bella's thoughts rang out. _Marcus and Felix._ She was looking at two hooded figures in the shadows in a nearby alley. They were surveying the crowd, making sure their celebration was not disrupted.

I began to run faster, pushing my top possible speed. This was where living here previously would come in handy. I knew these streets; nothing has geographically changed, the streets identical to my memory. I recognized a street that would keep us out of their sight. It would take us about a block out of our way, but that was the farthest thing from my mind. I nodded towards the street and turned down it, following it, my eyes never leaving Marcus' face. Seeing if he noticed us. Making sure we were safe. Undetected. All seemed fine. I headed down another street, heading back towards the Southern entrance.

_Carlisle?_ Bella's small thoughts came into my head.

_Yes, Bella?_

_In the vision…_ She trailed off, worry in her tone.

_Yes?_ I prompted.

_Well… in the vision… Edward wasn't being restrained at all… Why wouldn't they need to restrain him?_

I had been wondering about that as well. I had a good idea of the reason behind it, but willed my thoughts to avoid thinking the reason, well aware that I was not the only person in my head.

_Carlisle?_

I took a calming breath and turned to her, smiling. _I'm sure that it was simply a case of an occurrence of the flaw in her vision. If the only decision was made to hold Edward captive, then the only thing that Alice would have been able to see was that decision in itself. Perhaps the actual decision to restrain him has not yet been made. I'm confident that there is nothing to worry about, Bella._ Even to myself, who knew that I was only speaking to comfort her, it sounded like there was a possibility that it could be correct. That made it easier to convince her that I actually believed what I had told her.

I only pray that my words were true.

(Edward's Point of View)

I looked around the glacial room with dull eyes. There was a rug on the carpet, a crimson red to match their irises that betrayed their sins. A black chair in the corner faced a locked window. Uninterested, but eager to avoid the one subject which was sure to cause me to come apart at the seams, I moved to the window, taking in the view.

The window held a view of Volterra, the celebration in full swing. Children wore plastic fangs (ridiculous), and the entirety of the crowd was a sea of brilliant red. As my eyes swept over the scene before me, I spotted Marcus and Felix, invisible statues in the shadows, ready to spring if the slightest dilemma should occur. Their stony faces held no interest for the celebration before them. Felix looked rather bored, and I didn't need to look into his mind to know he would rather be in the castle. Marcus' expression was unrecognizable, his face a frozen mask.

Out of the corner of my eye, there were several flashes. My eyes darted to the source of the illumination, and I spotted Emmett and Jasper, running around a corner to avoid Felix and Marcus' attention. What were they doing here? I frowned at the window, focusing on Jasper's thoughts.

_I hope that they don't notice us. We have worked to hard to get in here, what with running around the world to get to him in time, and all the trouble it took to get in here… Oh, Carlisle is turning again… good, we are heading back towards the Southern entrance…._

I pulled out of his thoughts, confused. Carlisle was here, too? What were they doing? They spent so much time to get here, to get into the city, to remain unnoticed.

It hit me. Hard. Me. They were here for me. They had come to get me out of the situation that I was in, the impending death that was my future, my fate.

Why? I didn't want it. Leave me here. I am empty without her. Without my angel. My Bella, my life, my existence. She is gone now. Let me die and be reunited with my love. Why were they so determined to interfere?

I glared at Jasper as he disappeared around the corner before sinking to the ground in misery, the topic I had been trying so hard to avoid swirling through my mind.

Bella. Dead. Killed. Right in front of me. And I did nothing. She was murdered. By the very beings who would end my life as well. As my mind surged in anguish, I relived the nightmare, cursing my vampire memory as I was lost to unwanted reminiscence.

oooOooo

I was brought back to reality with a harsh slam as the door opened. I looked up to see Jane, furious. She came up to me with a harsh smile. She grabbed my arm, blocking my mind so I couldn't see what she was thinking.

"Where are you taking me?" I asked, snarling at her.

"I don't care what Aro says anymore," she replied with a cold smile. "I'm killing you now, whether he likes it or not."


	8. Chapter 8

(Bella's Point of View)

_I'm killing you now, whether he likes it or not._

As Alice and I were thrown from her vision, I couldn't withhold the snarl that was coming from deep in my chest. Without waiting for Alice to fill the others in, I began running towards the castle, not caring if anyone saw me as I ran up the castle wall and over into the Volterra grounds.

_Bella! Wait, we should try to-_

_No, Alice! Didn't you see? Jane said she was going to kill him __now__. Not ' after the Cullens strategize', not even 'in five freaking minutes'. She said __now__, Alice, and I'm not going to sit here and __strategize__ while Edward is about to be killed!_

I hadn't been paying attention where I was running; I yelped when I ran into a tall, icy figure. I looked up, almost afraid to see who I hit.

Shit. Aro.

I panicked, and tried to turn, to run from him, but he grabbed my wrist, keeping a fast hold on me.

"You are supposed to be dead," he said, cocking his head to the side in confusion. "How on Earth did you survive that? And what are you doing here, of all places?" His questions were immediately answered in my thoughts, including what I had seen in Alice's most recent vision. His expression was terrifyingly angry when he finished looking through my thoughts. Oh, shit. Now he is going to kill me, because I am going to try and kill Jane. Shit, shit, shit!

"Stupid girl," Aro muttered as he began dragging me towards a tall staircase.

"Let me go," I whispered; a whisper was all I could manage through my fear.

"We can't waste any time, Bella!" Aro scolded me. "Do you, or do you not, wish to stop Jane?"

"Erm, yes?" It sounded like a question. Was he seriously trying to _help _me?

"Then follow me." He released my hand then, and for a moment, I considered running. I was a new vampire; Edward had told me once that they were faster and stronger than practiced ones. But, Aro wasn't trying to hurt me, he was trying to help me, for unimaginable reasons. After a minute, curiosity got the better of me, and I had to ask.

"Aro?"

He didn't answer, only glanced over at me. I took that as a sign that he was listening.

"Why… why are you helping me?" He paused for a moment, seeming thrown by my question, before starting up again up the staircase.

"I do not really consider it as 'helping,' "he said, as if what he were saying was obvious. "We simply have a common goal, stopping Jane, and since our paths shall intertwine, there is no point in doing things separately, as capable as I am of taking care of Jane by myself."

"Why are you stopping Jane?" I wanted to take back the question the instant I asked it. What if he changed his mind, and instead decided to turn on me? But, though his expression was sharper, angrier than I was used to, it did not seem to be directed at me.

"Jane has disobeyed a direct order from me, and that is not to be tolerated, no matter my affection for the girl." His words reminded me of the last time I was in this castle, in that large room. Aro had shown a liking for Jane, and I wondered if that was why he showed her so much patience. I almost felt pity for Jane, and then remembered what she was trying to do. All the pity drowned in the waves of fury. There were two paths, then, and I turned towards the one that held the room Edward was in before. Aro grabbed my wrist, pulling me down the other hallway.

"They're down this one," he said, his voice low enough that I had to struggle to hear it even with my newly enhanced senses.

_Bella?_ Alice's thoughts echoed in my head, her voice soft, yet worried.

Aro stopped dead in his tracks. He turned to look at me, his face calm, though I could see bewilderment in his eyes.

"Was that Alice I heard?" he questioned. I nodded. His head cocked to the side again. "Do you read minds?"

"That, and I can put thoughts into other people's minds," I said, very quietly. I was afraid that Aro would ask me to join him again.

As if on cue, he asked, "And you are sure that you would not like to reconsider my previous offer?"

I nodded, planning my words carefully. "I'd prefer not." I had quoted Edward from before, just to make sure that there was no chance that I would offend him. No doubt he could kill me in an instant if he wanted to.

_Bella?_ Alice's thoughts echoed again.

_I'm in the castle, Alice. With Aro._

_I know… I saw him grab your wrist and pulling you to some staircase… Are you alright? Where are you?_

_I'm fine, Alice._ I assured her. _Aro is… helping me._

Silence.

_Why?_

I shrugged, then remembered that she couldn't see me.

_I don't know._

_Where are you?_

I sent her a mental image of the way I had come in, right up to the very step I had just took.

_We're on our way._ And within ten seconds, the entire Cullen family, minus one, was in front of me.

"Carlisle," Aro greeted his old friend happily. "It is _so_ good to see you again."

"Aro," Carlisle greeted his respectfully. "Where is Jane?" he asked, looking at Alice.

Aro responded before Alice could even close her eyes to check. "In the room at the end of the hall. We should hurry. Jane is giving a speech, and, boring as it is, it is coming to an end."

Carlisle nodded once, before glancing at me. When his gaze met mine, his eyes were intense. It only lasted half of a second, but it was enough for me to realize what he wanted. I looked into his mind.

_Yes, Carlisle?_ I made sure that Aro was no longer making contact with me before looking for his answer.

_Aro is distracted at the moment by his anger towards Jane. This is good for us, because he will kill Jane without our having to fight her. But, when Jane is … dealt with… it would not be a good idea for us to still be there. He would have time to think about your still being in existence after he attempted to kill you once. He might not be too happy… I believe that once Aro is distracted dealing with Jane, it would be best if we take Edward and leave. Quickly._

I nodded, a nearly imperceptible movement, and Carlisle smiled sadly.

I heard voices now, coming from the end of the hallway. I recognized the two voices, one a harsh, high sound, the other a perfect, velvet one. The velvet one sounded lifeless, though, uncaring.

"It's really a shame," Jane said, "that Bella died so quickly. It would have been more fun if it lasted longer." She laughed coldly, and I resisted the urge to rip her to pieces myself, right then and there.

"You do realize that Aro will _not_ be happy with you," Edward pointed out, his voice uncaring, like a zombie. Like mine used to be when I was in my 'zombie' phase. "You weren't supposed to kill me yet."

Yet. He sounded like it wasn't his death that was bothering him, simply the fact that is was occurring before he had planned…

I looked at Carlisle, waiting for some signal to ambush the small room. Carlisle was staring at Aro, who was still striding confidently towards the end of the hallway. Aro paused then, right in front of the door.

"I don't care what Aro thinks anymore," Jane said, her voice offhand.

Aro reached out then, and, in a movement that was much faster than even I could make, there was suddenly a pile of splinters in front of him, instead of a door. I heard a quiet intake of breath, and Jane was suddenly babbling in a high voice.

"Aro," she greeted him, panicked. Her voice was several pitches higher than normal, to the point that it sounded like squeaking. So much for not caring what he thought… "I was just… I mean, I was …" She fell silent under the harsh glare that he was sending her. I shivered, though the look wasn't directed at me.

I moved forwards then, Alice and Carlisle at my heels, to run across the room to Edward.


	9. Chapter 9

"I'm so glad you're alright," I whispered as I reached him, wrapping my arms around him in a tight embrace. I pulled back, smiling, to see his ethereal face. A mixture of astonishment and disbelief was on his face, and I turned to Jasper for some help.

_He is giving off disbelief in waves… He's also pleased. And afraid, though I've no idea why…_

I tried reading his mind, to get the reasons behind the emotions, when I reached a brick wall. Nothing.

"Figures," I mumbled aloud. Of course I can't read his thoughts… But does that mean that I can't insert thoughts there as well? I decided to try.

_Edward? Come on, we have to get out of here while Aro-_ My thoughts broke off as I winced. There was a snapping sound behind me, and I was afraid to look to see the cause of the noise. I already knew… _While Aro is distracted with Jane_, I quickly finished, sending the thoughts to him.

Surprise crossed his face.

"Great," he mumbled. "Now I'm insane."

Insane?

"Not only am I delusional, I'm hearing things, too. Of course, the instant that I manage to not think about the pain of your death, I start hallucinating!" He was speaking very quickly, standing, but shaking his head.

I sighed. "Do we have to go through this every time?" I asked him. "You're not crazy, I'm really here, and if we don't move now, Aro is probably going to kill us." With that, I grabbed his cool, almost normal temperature, hand and yanked him forward. My new strength had a plus. He stumbled forwards, pulled by my hand.

"I saw Aro kill you," Edward whispered. Another crunching sound came from behind us, and I cringed, pulling Edward again so that he would run with all of us. We needed to get out of here. Fast.

"You saw him bite me," I corrected. "There was still some blood left, and three days later, I woke up in a LaPush hospital."

"LaPush?"

"They found her first," Alice answered for me. "It was quite an inconvenience, actually. She ended up having to jump out the window on the twelfth floor to get out."

"You jumped out a window?" he asked, almost angrily.

"Hey," I protested. "I'm not glass anymore, in case you didn't notice." We were outside the castle now, and running through the streets. The sun glinted momentarily off of my skin, before we were back in the shade. I smiled, my point proven.

When I looked at him, he was looking at me, too. At my eyes specifically. I knew that they were crimson red without having to check. The drawback to this life. A year of crimson eyes, until my human blood was drained completely, rendering them to turn the much preferred golden color.

"Only one year," I reminded him softly. He nodded, a smile playing across his face.

One peek into Jasper's thoughts told me that Edward was still doubtful, and the instant that we were out of Volterra, I pulled him aside. The others continued without us, heading back towards the spot we were at earlier.

Once we were alone, I turned back to him. Unbelievable beauty stood in front of me. Every perfect detail of his ethereal face was in perfect detail, a thousand times more detailed. I almost laughed at myself when I instinctively checked again for the hidden facets in his skin.

"What?" I finally asked. "What's bothering you?"  
He was silent, and the minutes passed.

"Edward?"

He looked up, his lips turning upwards in a small smile. His eyes were soft, yet still held hints of disbelief.

"You're here," he said, very quietly.

"Yes."

"I thought you were…" he trailed off, unable to say the word.

"I'm here now," I said, smiling softly. "I'm just glad that you're alright." So very glad…

I wrapped my arms around him in a hug, smiling against his stone chest when his arms wrapped around my waist and his lips pressed into my hair.

"I'm sorry," he said suddenly.

"For what?"

"Because I wasn't able to stop them, you had to go through those horrible three days of pain. And I wasn't there."

I smiled again. "You're forgiven," I whispered.

"Thank you."

He rocked me in silence for a moment, before he pulled back an inch to look at me.

"You have an ability." It wasn't a question. I nodded.

"I can read thoughts,-"

"Copycat," he laughed, interrupting me.

"_And_," I continued, pretending to glower at him. "I can put thoughts into people's minds."

"Is that what you were doing before?" In the castle?

"Yes."

"You can read my mind?" he questioned. "That's hardly fair."

I laughed. "Actually, I can't. I can put thoughts there, though."

"Fate is kind after all," he said with a smile. "Both of us can read minds, yet neither can read the other's…"

"You should consider yourself lucky I can't read your mind," I teased.

"Is that so?"

I nodded. "Your cryptic remarks are half your personality," I joked. He rolled his eyes.

_We need to head to the airport soon,_ Esme thought. Both Edward and I heard it.

"I guess we should get over there," I sighed. Edward nodded, before taking my hand unthinkingly. I smiled, before we ran over to join the others.

The plane ride back to Alaska was very long. Of course, I wasn't tired, but the shadows under my eyes were darkening, and remaining normal around so many humans was proving difficult, despite my strong negative emotions towards such desires.

Jasper felt my thirst, and I apologized to him again and again for causing him to be thirsty as well by reflecting my emotions.

About two hours into the flight, there was a burning sensation in the back of my throat, venom coating my teeth as I inhaled the scents of the humans around us. I started at my words choice; I was calling them human, which meant my subconscious had already accepted that that was not what I was anymore. Which was true. I was not human – the thirst alone was proving that.

Edward kept his arm around me in the seats, telling me again and again that we only had three hours, two hours left, and then he would take me to hunt.

I thought the plane ride would never end.


	10. Chapter 10

(Jasper's Point of View)

"I'm sorry," Bella said for the hundredth time. "Really."

"It's _fine_, Bella," I assured her. I chanced a glance at Edward; he wasn't looking at me, but I knew he was 'listening.'

_She's really thirsty. You should take her hunting as soon as we're off this plane._

_Sorry._ Bella whispered in thoughts.

Oh, right. I forgot she can hear thoughts now, too.

"It's fine," I repeated. Bella's eyes had darkened so quickly once we were on the plane; they were a very faint red now, mostly black. I wondered how she would fare in the airport, when there were so many more people…

_Jasper?_ Bella sent me her thoughts.

_Yes, Bella?_

_Thirst is an emotion, right? Because you can feel it?_

_Yes…_ Where was she going with this?

_Well, if it is an emotion, you can make it less, or at least drown out the emotion with a stronger one, right?_

I thought it through. I supposed that, if thirst were an emotion, satiation would be as well. I had never thought of doing that before; controlling her thirst like that. It could work…

_I'll give it a try_, I assured her, reaching my arm across the aisle to touch her outstretched hand. Edward, sitting by the window, watched us with fascination. Alice wasn't even paying attention; she had those ridiculous earphones on, and was feigning sleep in the silent cabin. Most of the plane was asleep at this point; I assumed it was nearly midnight by the pitch black darkness I could see out Edward's window.

When I made contact with Bella, I sent a wave of satiation, and, in reflecting her emotions, could feel the thirst dimming, but not disappearing completely. It was perfectly bearable for me, since I was used to such a small amount of thirst, but for a newly turned vampire, I wasn't sure how she would handle it.

She smiled at me, her eyes just as black, though her instincts believed her full.

"Thanks," she whispered.

"Not a problem."

Alice's Point of View

I was surrounded by darkness, my lids closed against the dim light of the cabin. When I had put the earphones on, I saw Jasper rolling his eyes. We both knew it wouldn't get rid of the sound, but it _would _muffle it.

I was trying to concentrate, and pretending to sleep seemed to be the quickest way to clear my mind to open it up to visions.

I was getting quite frustrated with Edward, quite frankly. He kept going back and forth on a decision, so quickly that I couldn't see what it was. I was getting flashes. All I knew was that it was an important decision.

_Just decide already!_ I thought, knowing Edward would hear.

"It's not that simple, Alice," Edward said quietly. Bella looked at him, confused, and then at me.

_What is he talking about?_ she asked.

_Edward can't decide in a decision he is trying to make. It's driving me insane._

There was a pause, and then her thoughts were in my head again.

_Why can't I see it?_ Bella asked.

_It might be because it involves his mind, which you can't read. I'm not sure. I'm not all-knowing, I just see the future_, I reminded her.

_But I could see things about him before._

_Those were decisions that involved other people, mainly Jane. We were seeing results of her decisions, and not those of Edward's._

_Oh…_

I could feel it then, the pull of another vision. My body went rigid as I willingly fell into it.

_Edward and Bella were in his room and Edward had one hand hidden behind his back. Never looking away from her, Edward slowly lowered himself off of the couch and onto one knee. _

_Oh my God._

_Bella's eyes opened wide in surprise. She opened her mouth, closed it, opened it again. No sound came out. Edward smiled softly._

"_Isabella Marie Swan," Edward began._

The vision ended then, and I was bursting with excitement. Oh my GOD!!!!! Jasper turned to me, surprised.

"Alice?" he asked, sensing my excitement. I grinned at Edward and Bella. Bella looked confused, but Edward was watching me carefully.

_I'm helping,_ I thought. _It's not an option._

"Helping with what?" Bella asked, looking from Edward to me and back again. Her gaze finally rested on me as she tried to find out what I had seen in my vision.

_I know a song that gets on everybody's nerve!_ I 'sang' desperately, thinking the first thing that came to my mind. I wasn't going to take any chances, just in case she was able to see it this time. _Everybody's nerve, everybody's nerve! Oh, I know a song that gets on everybody's nerve and this is how it goes!!_

"Fine," Bella grumbled. "Don't tell me." She pouted. Edward laughed, before leaning over to me.

"We'll talk later," he said sternly. I giggled and nodded. I was practically bouncing up and down in excitement at this point. Edward glared at me, glancing implyingly at Jasper. A wave of peace came over me then, and I smiled calmly, having had no choice in the matter of whether or not to calm down. The waves didn't stop though, for the excitement kept bubbling back up.

Edward couldn't stop me. I _would_ help with this.


	11. Chapter 11

**Author's Note: Head's up! Lot's of PoV switching in here! It all leads up to what we all have been waiting for! (YAY!) Happy reading!**

Edward's Point of View

"No," I said from my bedroom. Bella was in my lap, and we were listening to Linkin Park in a very comfortable silence.

"Yes," Alice insisted from her own bedroom. _I _am_ going to help you with this, Edward!_

"No," I repeated, for what felt like the hundredth time today. Why couldn't Alice understand that I didn't want any help with this? Why?

"Yes!"

"Dear_God!_" Emmett yelled, very annoyed. Alice and I had been yelling the same word back and forth for nearly two days now. Needless to say, the others were beginning to get a temper. "Would you two just stop already? Edward, whatever it is, _let her do it_."

"No!" I insisted. "I'm not going to let her help me with this."

Many groans.

"Could you possibly dispute this in a more private setting, then, Edward?" Carlisle asked. Even he was beginning to lose patience with the two of us.

Another dilemma. The others wanted Alice and I to go off in private and 'discuss' our little dispute. The only problem? I refused to leave Bella's side.

"Alice, you're not helping. I'm sorry. That's just how it's going to be." My voice rang with finality, and a silence from Alice made me hope that she would listen.

_Edward?_ Bella put her thoughts into my head, always, always, disconcerting me.

"Yes, love?"

_What are the two of you arguing about so much? I mean, I looked into Alice's head and I can't find anything, and, of course, she won't tell me. So…_

I laughed. "Sorry, Bella, but I'm afraid I can't tell you that. I had _wanted_ everybody to be surprised, but, of course, I knew Alice would see my decision. I had just hoped she would be a little more accepting of the fact that I neither require nor wish to receive any help."

"That's too bad, Edward!" Alice called.

Many_loud_ groans.

"Edward?" Bella said carefully, aloud.

"Hm?"

"Could you possibly… discuss this… elsewhere?" Her voice dropped very low at the end; it was obvious that she was being careful not to cause my temper to flare.

I sighed. As much as I did not want to leave Bella, especially after discovering that she was really live, well… as alive as our kind could be… and not dead, murdered…

The only thing more important that what I wanted, as usual, was what Bella wanted.

"Alice?" I called quietly. "Meet me outside."

I reluctantly released Bella, and slowly stood, walking at a human speed to the front door. Alice was there, waiting. We walked far enough to be out of earshot. Just after we closed the door, Emmett exhaled in relief.

"Thank_God!_" he exclaimed. "Thank you, Bella!"

I chuckled.

We both paused once we were out of earshot, leaning against a tree, facing each other. I tilted my head down to meet her gaze, and she looked up to meet mine. We glared unrelentingly at each other, neither willing to speak first.

"You do realize that nothing that you say will change my mind about this, right?" she told me sternly. "This is very important to me, and I want to make sure that this goes perfect."

"Important to _you_?" I echoed in disbelief. "Alice, I'm the one proposing here, not you. As much as I know how you love to plan extravagant events and all that, I'm really not going to let you help me with this!"

"And why on Earth should I just let you do whatever you want? I'm the psychic, remember? I will know exactly what you should and shouldn't do," she reminded me.

"Alice," I said slowly, never looking away from her. "I am going to do this. On my own. I can do this. Without your help."

"She's my sister, I have to-"

"She's my mate, Alice," I interrupted, using the vampire term for soul mate. Ah, soul mate. Such an insignificant word compared to the bond Bella and I shared…

"I know that, Edward. It's just… Bella is my sister, and I want to make sure that this goes as perfectly for her as it did for me."

A memory flashed in her mind of when Jasper proposed. Of course, the moment was not as sweet, because Alice knew it was coming, but it was, indeed, a very romantic gesture, officially bonding the two of them for all eternity.

"I promise, I swear to you, Alice, that I will give Bella the perfect proposal. And, if it is any consolation, you can help plan the wedding." I winked. "Promise."

She squealed. As I knew it would, the prospect of helping to plan our wedding would overpower her stubbornness to help with the proposal.

Jasper's Point of View

Frustrating. Very frustrating. The excitement and impatience emanating from Alice was simply overwhelming. I had asked her multiple times what was bothering her, but she only shook her head, grinning, as always.

And now, I was asking her again.

"Alice, dear," I said as she came back into the room, having (finally) gone and talked with Edward about whatever it was that was bothering them. The impatience was just a little bit more, but the excitement… that had multiplied about ten fold. "What is it that has your emotions so haywire?"

"Jasper," she laughed, her tone as if she were singing her words rather than speaking them. "I _told _you… I can't tell you. You'll just have to be patient."

I laughed.

"Well, I'm not the one nearly bursting with impatience, am I?" I asked her, smiling. "Perhaps your advice should be taken to heart."

"Perhaps." She paused, considering, before grinning again. "But I'm still not going to tell you."

Rosalie's Point of View

"Emmett," I groaned. "Honestly, do you honestly think you will be able to sneak up on anybody in this house?"

He was trying to listen in on what was going on in Edward's room. For just about the twentieth time. I honestly didn't know what he was trying to accomplish. Whatever it was that Edward was planning in that intrusive mind of his, he obviously didn't want Bella to know about it, and, since he hasn't left her side once since we've come back from Italy (except for that one time to talk with Alice a few days ago), he wasn't going to be talking about it.

I pointed this out to Emmett, and he didn't follow. Apparently, he is under the apprehension that he is not the only vampire on Earth to speak his thoughts every minute of every day.

"I'm going to find out what he's planning, Rose," he told me, confident as ever.

"No you're not."

He shook his head, as if he were pitying me. "Rose, Rose, Rose,_obviously_ you do not understand the simpleness of this particular event."

I raised one eyebrow. "Simpleness?" I echoed.

"Simplicity," he amended. "Whatever, vocabulary doesn't matter here."

No. But I was getting tired of this.

"Emmett, just come over here and we can-"

And he was gone again.

I sighed, falling back onto the bed. Waiting. He would be back soon. Just long enough for him to 'sneak' up to Edward's room and be kicked out. Again.

Ten.

Nine.

Eight.

Seven.

Six.

Five.

Four.

Three.

Two.

One.

"Ugh!" And he was back again. He walked over to me, lying next to me on the bed. He exhaled a large gust of air, frustrated that his plans had been thwarted again.

"Edward kick you out?" Sarcastic.

"Yes," he groaned. "Stupid mind reader."

"Emmett," Edward said, his voice low and even. "I advise you not to keep trying the exact same thing. I would think that after the twenty-second failed attempt at the same plan, you would come up with something new."

Emmett frowned.

"And in any case," Edward continued. "You won't find me talking about it. Not now. Not ever."

In spite of myself, my lips curled up into a smug smile.

Bella's Point of View

What was he planning? For two weeks, he's been distracted, but he won't tell me why. This has to be something important. But…

Why wouldn't he tell me?

I decided, then, that, if he wouldn't, maybe the others were thinking something about it, or at least thinking about something that would give me a little hint.

I tried Emmett first. It only took a small peek for me to pull out of his head… I didn't really want to see Rosalie like that. Ever.

I knew better than to check in Rosalie's mind after what was in Emmett's. They were… busy… and I've already seen more of two of the Cullens than I ever expected to. Jasper and Rosalie were plenty enough for me.

Right. So Jasper next.

_What's bothering her? She's so excited, so much happier than usual, but… Why? I've been trying for two weeks to figure this out – It shouldn't be this hard…_

I sighed. Nothing in Jasper's head to help.

Carlisle, then.

…_wonder if I should head in to the hospital. Everything is calm here, and Dr. Snow __**had**__ said that things were a little crowded down there…_

Esme, maybe?

_These flowers look lovely. I love violets. So beautiful, and they look so nice next to these lavender I just planted…_

Alice. She was my last chance, then.

…_but who to invite? Definitely everybody from Denali. But anybody else? I'm not… Bella get out of my head!_

_How did you know?_ I sent to her.

_You're less discreet than Edward, poking around in my head. The way you breathe changes; you move less often. A bunch of stuff._

_I'll have to work on that._

_You will. But for now? Stay out of my head._

I laughed.

I opened my eyes, realizing that Alice was right. I had shifted so that I was sitting up rather than lying down as I was before. I had closed my eyes, and had leaned forwards so that my head was in my hands. I hadn't realized that I was concentrating so hard on reading everybody's minds.

I laughed again.

"I'm glad to see you so happy." Edward's arms were suddenly wrapped around me, and I grinned, turning around so that I could hug him.

"You're back!" I didn't even bother to try to hide how happy I was.

"I missed you every second that I was away," he whispered into my hair.

"Where did you go?"

I could feel him smiling. "Nowhere in particular."

I sighed. "Of course not."

He chuckled. "Be patient, love."

But I could only be patient for so long . . .

Edward's Point of View

I've waited for one entire month. One month. But tonight… the waiting would end. I would ask her. Everything was ready. Everything would be perfect.

"Bella?" I said softly, stroking her hair as she lay against me. I was very sure that we hadn't moved in two days. We had just sat here, being together, and listening to various music artists.

"Hm?"

"Are you busy tonight?" I asked her, smiling. I watched as a smile slowly spread across her ethereal face in response.

"No," she said slowly. "Did you have anything planned?"

"In fact, I did. I was wondering if I could have the honor of taking you to dinner tonight."

_Oh, Edward Anthony Mason Cullen, I loathe you with every molecule of my entire being!_ Alice thought angrily.

I chuckled, shaking my head when Bella looked up at me, confused. Of course, Alice would be frustrated. She wouldn't be able to be there when I proposed to Bella. She would be able to see it, though. I had decided on doing this, and so she would have a vision about it. Alice would have to make do with that…

"So," I said smoothly, looking down at Bella with a soft smile. "Are you available tonight?"

"Of course," she said happily, instantly. "Where are we going?"

"It's a surprise."

She frowned.  
"I hate surprises," she said, her voice turning sour.

I laughed. "I know."

"I don't like you," she pouted.

"Ah, but I know that isn't true." I smiled. "You like me. Love me in fact."

She was starting to smile. "Who told you that?" she asked.

I leaned down so that my lips were touching her ear. "You did," I breathed.

She smiled wider, easily giving in. I kissed her for a moment, and then stood up, taking her hand so that she would be pulled up with me.

"Where are we going?" she asked again.

"Hunting," I replied simply.

"Oh." She thought about that. "Why?"

I smiled. "I'm fairly sure that you're going to want to be able to leave the house without massacring every human you come across."

She looked embarrassed.

"But… I thought it took years of practice before I would be able to be around humans so casually." A look of confusion crossed her face, probably remembering the struggle when she was on the airplane.

"It does. But I'll be there with you, and I won't let anything happen to you. Besides, it's been a couple months, and you've already proven that you can be around humans by abstaining in the airport."

She seemed comforted, then. "Alright, then," she agreed.

OooXooO

After we had hunted, I brought her to my Volvo, helping her into the passenger seat. I smiled, then. "I'll be right back," I told her.

"Alright," she said slowly.

I raced into the house, to my room, where I was hiding the ring. It wasn't where I left it. I whipped around, until I saw Alice balancing it on her palm.

"You know I will never forgive you if this doesn't go absolutely perfect, right?" she told me. I was worried for a moment that her thoughts would give me away, but she was currently translating parts of the Constitution into Arabic.

I smiled at her. "You won't be disappointed."

She tossed me the box that held Bella's ring. "Good. Because I will cheerfully beat you to death if you do." She grinned at me.

I grinned back at her, and then ran back out to the Volvo, where Bella was waiting impatiently for me. I slid into the driver's seat, but, before I started the car, I pulled out a blindfold. Bella's mouth dropped open, and her eyes tightened in disbelief.

"No," she said firmly. I chuckled.

"Humor me," I told her. I looked at her in the way that always made her eyes glaze over. One hundred percent 'dazzled.' Then she shook her head, yanking the blindfold from me, and glared.

"You don't fight fair," she accused me. I laughed.

"Never said I did."

I helped her get the blindfold on, before starting the car. The entire way there, she was grumbling, so fast that I only caught a few words. "Unnecessary" and "Frustrating" were among them. I chuckled again.

"Be patient, love."

She sighed. "This is so ridiculous, though. I mean, honestly – a blindfold?"

"It'll be worth the suspense," I assured her. She pouted, but leaned back in her seat, giving in. I smiled, and turned my attention back to the road.

Twenty minutes later, I pulled the car to a stop. She heard the stop of the engine, and reached up to take off her blindfold. I caught her hands, placing them back in her lap.

"Not yet," I laughed. She frowned again, crossing her arms against her chest. I laughed again, walking around the car to help her out.

La Bella Italia. The restaurant at which I first took her to dinner. Of course, we wouldn't be eating anything here, but the nostalgia of the place would be perfect. I had reserved out the entire restaurant, so there would be no interruptions.

The waitress looked shocked when I opened the door. I recognized her as the girl from when we had first come here. Even more nostalgia. Perfect.

"Um, I'm sorry sir, but the place is-"

"Cullen," I interrupted her. Understanding brightened her face, and she nodded. She glanced at Bella, still blindfolded, still pouting, and back to me. I smiled at her, and the human paused for a moment, before shaking her head and taking us back to the booths again.

I sat Bella into the seat, and she finally spoke up.

"_Now_ can I take the stupid blindfold off?" she asked.

I laughed. "Yes, now you can take it off."

She slipped it off, and gasped almost inaudibly when she noticed where we were. And how empty the place was. Her eyes narrowed at me, but she was smiling.

"Edward Anthony Mason Cullen, _please_ tell me that you did not reserve the _entire_ restaurant just for the two of us."

I grinned at her, but complied with her request; I didn't speak. She groaned.

"It's not like we can actually _eat_ anything here," she mumbled, too quickly for a human to have a chance of hearing. She looked around the restaurant then, her brilliant golden eyes scanning the familiar room. Her gaze settled on me, then, and she smiled.

"Why are we here?" she wondered.

I placed an innocent expression on my face. "Can I not take the woman I love out to dinner?"

Something flashed in her eyes, too quick for me to see what the emotion was. Her eyes narrowed slightly.

"Yes," she said slowly. "But you wouldn't go to all this effort all for nothing, especially going somewhere to 'eat.' "

She was so quick.

"Perhaps there was a reason," I allowed, smirking. I could feel the box for the ring inside my pocket, ready to presented when needed. My smirk slowly transformed into a small smile.

"And are you going to _tell_ me that reason?" she asked, raising one eyebrow.

My smile turned back into a smirk.

"No."

She groaned, falling back onto the seat. I realized that we had been leaning towards each other, so caught up in out own personal bubble. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the waitress and hostess watching us from the fall wall, as if watching a television show, or a soap opera.

After a period of comfortable silence – it could have been minutes, or hours –, she looked up at me again. Her eyes scorched, so excruciatingly beautiful, and she leaned back towards me. A small voice in the back of my head recognized the fact that she was trying to dazzle me into telling her why I had brought her here. Unfortunately, it wasn't quite loud enough to be listened to.

"Edward," she said slowly, almost seductively.

"Yes?" My mind was hazy… I fought to pay attention to her words and not simply stare at her.

"Why are we here?" she asked, leaning closer towards me, so that her cool breath blew softly against my face.

"I have to do something." My God, and she accused _me_ of dazzling! I forced myself to concentrate, to not give anything else away. And _definitely_ not to be dazzled again.

"What do you have to do?" Surprise had colored her tone, making it easier to concentrate on that than her 'dazzling.'

"Something… important." I close my words carefully, cautious not to slip.

"And it had to be done… here?"

"Yes."

"Because…?"

I smiled, but didn't answer.

"Ed_ward_," she whined. She pouted, folding her arms stubbornly across her chest. I laughed, and her expression seemed to soften at the sound.

"Be patient," I repeated.

This continued for several hours; her trying to trick me into telling her why we were here, and not getting what she wanted. But, eventually, she grew frustrated.

"If you're not going to tell me, let's just leave," she finally said, annoyed.

"Alright," I agreed, smiling in anticipation. "After one thing."  
"And what's that?" she asked, pouting at me.

I slowly slid out of the seat, onto one knee, pulling out the box at the same time. I opened the box, revealing a princess cut ring with a diamond twisted elegantly into the smooth topaz metal. Bella's eyes widened in surprise, and she gasped.

"Isabella Marie Swan," I began, my eyes burning into hers with all of the feelings I had towards her. "I promise to love you forever. Every single moment of forever. Will you marry me?"

She was staring at the ring, disbelief, shock, and happiness at war for control on her face. She looked at the ring for an unbearably long moment, and then looked up to me. Happiness was winning.

"Yes," she whispered. "Yes, yes, _yes_!"

I grinned, slipping the ring onto her finger and pulling her into my arms. "Thank you," I whispered, leaning down to press my lips to hers.

Bella's Point of View

"Isabella Marie Swan," Carlisle's voice was warm as he turned to me. "Do you take Edward Cullen to be your husband, to love him until the end of your existence?

"I do," I whispered, unable to hold back the grin that spread across my face.

Carlisle nodded, before turning to Edward.

"Edward Anthony Mason Cullen. Do you take Isabella Swan to be your wife, to love her until the end of your existence?"

He was grinning, too. "I do."

Carlisle was still speaking, but I couldn't hear him anymore. All I could hear and see was Edward, when he smiled at me, when he mouthed, 'I love you', when he pulled me into a kiss when Carlisle spoke the words that bound us for all eternity. My angel blinded out everything else.

And I would love him forever.

**Author's Note: YAY! Finally, the happy ending for Edward and Bella! (Haha, I wasn't planning on inserting that last little PoV, but I just **_**had**_**to put at least **_**some**_** of the wedding in there!) You'll all have to review, of course:D Because I love you all and want to hear what you think!!!!!!**


	12. Sequel Anybody?

Hey all,

I just wanted to say thanks to all the people who have been reviewing through this; it helped a lot, especially in getting me through my writer's block. So...

THANK YOU!!!!!!!!

ESPECIALLY to all the people who have added me to their favorite author's list.

Name 1. AlexialovesXeximas 2. and in kisses-consume 3. avrilBellababe 4. Bella has a BUTTON 5. bellaandedwardforever77 6. BellaBunny1292 7. Catlover855 8. Chidorigan 9. chocoholic1614 10. darkheartedmage 11. edward's.eclipse. 12. Edwardlover11 13. EP-Cullen-17 14. IllusionofaShadow 15. imgaginary Friend 16. Irene Guberman 17. Italiangurlinamessedupworld 18. Izzismitty 19. jagadeesanenator 20. moonprincess321 21. naru-twilight-geeks 22. NorthernLights25 23. o0o-Stand-Your-Ground-o0o 24. pottrprincess 25. ReaderRabid 26. RedTemptation 27. sasukefan8 28. Secretly in Pain 29. shopaholicmz 30. sorrow-ever-lasting 31. Sydney E. Stone 32. TheJadeTiger 33. ThirstyViciousVampire 34. ThrushflightEdward'sStalker 35. topazeyelover 36. vampire012 37. vampiress1107 38. VintageLyre 39. xLilMissQuirkiex 40. xSherryXCherryx 41. xXxNaleyIsLovexXx 

THANK YOU TO YOU ALL!!!!

But now, to the point of this update...

Does anybody want a sequel?

:D


	13. Official

Hey all,

Sequel up now.

It's called WORSE.

Looking forward to all your reviews!!!

SUMMARY:

The sequel to THE VISION. Ten years after Bella saves Edward for the second time, Alice gets another vision, one that scares her much more than the previous one. What will happen?


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